Day 599

Day 599...

So today was all about travelling home after our weekend away.

Once we had enjoyed breakfast we checked out of the hotel and headed off in search of coffee and petrol. We found a local retail park with a couple of coffee shops but had to wait for 10.30am to roll around as with it being a Sunday the shops were not yet open and the coffee shop was located inside one of the shops!

After coffee we had a little wander around some of the shops before heading off towards Molly and Dan's with a quick stop to refuel before the long journey home. We spent a little time catching up with Molly and Dan; they have managed over the last couple of days to get all Molly's bits and pieces in place and everything looks great.

It was then time for us to head off on our 190 mile journey up north, a pretty straightforward journey that took about three and a half hours with a stop for coffee and a loo break included. Thankfully the traffic was kind and the sat nav took us a slightly different route than normal but we seemed to avoid any major hold ups.

Once home we were able to catch-up with Ethan and let him know all about the weekend and chat about plans for all three of us to visit Molly and Dan sometime over the Christmas holidays.

I think I am going to have a period of adjustment to go through as although Molly has spent time down at Dan's before (she was there for the lockdown at the beginning of the year) this is now a permanent thing. And as a woman of a certain age I can feel the hormones and the emotions kicking in from time to time and I know there are going to be moments, especially over the next few days, where I am going to catch myself. Even this evening glancing at the calendar on the wall and seeing the column marked 'Molly' filled me up a little...or just setting the dining table with three places and not four...or glancing towards her bedroom and not seeing a light on or hear her chatting on the phone to Dan...emotions are going to be rather close to the surface I think!

Driving home this afternoon we were listening to some White Lies and there is a song called 'Change' which they played on Friday night and Simon had remarked how appropriate it was for the weekend. Hearing it again today got to me big time; I am going to miss Molly incredibly but I know that she is happy and that is all that matters. We will be here for her whenever she needs us and while part of me may wish she was just a little closer we will support her completely, no matter what, and love her more than words can say.

OK I'm off to have a cry now...see you tomorrow.
xx

 

Day 598

Day 598...

Saturday morning away after enjoying the White Lies gig last night. Have I mentioned what an amazing experience we had...such a great evening.

But anyway we enjoyed a cooked breakfast at the hotel before heading out to explore Bournemouth. This involved a wander around the shops with of course the obligatory look around Primark for my Disney fix, although there was nothing really that stood out to me. I also had a look for the coat I'd seen a couple of weeks ago but alas it was not there.

We stopped for a coffee before heading out for a walk along the seafront. It was rather blustery but thankfully not too cold and the rain stayed away. We headed in the direction of Sandbanks although due to it looking rather misty and rainy the closer we got we decided to turn back so didn't quite make it all the way but we must have managed around 6 miles walking today, including walking around the town centre.

On returning to the town centre we went in search of food and had a lovely meal at a greek restaurant and managed to stay pretty low carb only indulging in a little flat bread with some hummus.

We then headed back to our hotel for a coffee before heading off to see Molly and Dan. They have been busy organising all of Molly's stuff which has involved making storage units, putting up shelves and display boxes as well as brackets for her guitars and her kickboxing belt display as made for her by Simon.

Simon was able to give a little help with a couple of things but they have sorted everything themselves and have done a great job.

And then it was back to the hotel to put our achy feet up, relax and enjoy some chocolate.

See you tomorrow.

xx

Day 597

Day 597...
 

OK so I am writing this rather late and after two glasses of red wine!

It has been a busy old Friday and one that started out early this morning as we got ready to drive down south towards Bournemouth. After breakfast Simon had to take a parcel to the post office while I finished packing our overnight bag.  But by about 10am we were on our way.

Simon was driving his car packed full of Molly's stuff including her 2 meter long desk! Me and Molly were in her car and that too was packed full of her stuff. We loaded up Waze on our phones to guide us down and agreed to stop at Cherwell Valley services.

We had a slight hiccup just as we set off as the phone holder in Molly's car decided to unstick itself, but a quick stop and refit and we were on our way. We had a straightforward drive down with a short stop for a coffee and toilet break and we managed to travel down keeping both cars together the majority of the time.

By about 2.30pm we had arrived at Dan's house and began the unpacking of the cars which was a darn sight quicker thab packing them. We also managed to get Molly's desk and chest of drawers reassembled before we headed off to find our hotel for the next couple of nights.

Once at the hotel and checked in we got ourselves changed and then headed out for the evening. First we grabbed a bunless burger at Five Guys before finding coffee and cake.

It was then time to head to a club called Madding Crowd to see my favourite band, White Lies. They were playing a one-off small and intimate accoustic gig and they were absolutely amazing...as they always are. Such an honour to see them perform an accoustic set and they played my favourite song, First Time Caller!

It was so good to be doing something normal with no restrictions...no need for vaccine passports or masks or checking in. And apart from a few people wearing masks it felt like going to a club as it has always felt. A few hundred people singing their hearts out having a fabulous time, what more could you ask for.

And it was so good to walk back to the hotel seeing a busy town center on a Friday evening with people out enjoying themselves.

Well I've just about finished my glass of wine so I guess I'll see you tomorrow.

xx

Day 596

Day 596...

Well this will be a quick blog post today as I find myself writing this quite late in the day as I've been a tad busy.

The morning was spent in work and as my deputy manager was back at work today we spent the time catching up, getting up to date with various bits and bobs as well as talking about the upcoming weeks and months.

Meanwhile at home we had an engineer visit whose job was to install an electric charging point so that we can take delivery of our new electric car. We have had the car on order since the end of September and have been waiting for the charging point company to sort out the necessary point. After a bit of back and forth we finally had a date through for the installation of today. Now both Simon and I were rather sceptical as to whether the installation could actually happen as our set-up is not a straight forward one. Our garage is detached from our house and not only that but it is a little way away from the house. We'd already had to prove that the garage was actually owned by us and provide photographs of the location but we were still convinced that it wouldn't be smooth sailing. And sure enough the engineer took one look and said 'nope can't fit that, the cabling isn't sufficient'. As we had guessed we need the electric into the garage upgrading to full mains electric rather than a spur off for sockets and lights etc. This will mean cable being laid under ground between our meter and the garage; not an insignificant distance and one that will mean tarmac being dug up and replaced. An email has now been sent to the company in question and we await their response and solution!

At lunchtime I left work and headed home via a local supermarket to pick up a few things, some of which were food items for Ethan over the weekend. We will be away all weekend which leaves Ethan home alone so I always like to make sure he has enough in the cupboards to keep him going for a few days. And yes as his mum I am a big softy and like to get in a few treats while we are away.

Arriving home and Molly had made more progress on disassembling her bedroom and organising all her stuff ready to move down to Dan's tomorrow! So our first job of the afternoon was to go and get some petrol in her car ready for the 190 mile trip and then to stop by my dad's house. My dad is Molly and Ethan's only surviving grandparent and I wanted to make sure she got chance to see him before she starts this new chapter in her life. Molly and her grandad have always been really close and although she doesn't perhaps see him as often now as she used to there is still a special connection between the two of them.

On our return home I poured myself a freshly brewed coffee, found an extra layer of clothing as it had turned rather chilly, before me and Molly embarked on seeing just how much of Molly's belongings we could fit between her car and Simon's car. The plan is to drive down in two cars; Molly's because she will need her car and then Simon's as not only are we helping Molly move but we also have our own reason for visiting the South of the UK this weekend...we have a concert to attend.

Well after just over four hours me and Molly, with a little help from Ethan at one point, have managed to squeeze the vast majority of her belongings including a two meter long desk, a drawer unit, two guitars, three new (to be built) storage units, approximately 16 pairs of shoes, numerous soft toys (that have been unceremoniously pushed into all sorts of tiny spaces) and all her clothes into both cars. There are still things left here that she will have to transport at a later date but they are things that she doesn't need immediately. Really not sure how we've managed to get as much in as we have but we did somehow!

The good thing is that Molly will be visiting at the end of November, as she has promised her kickboxing academy that she would help out with the second part of their black belt grading event, so she will be able to take more then. There are a few bigger items to get down there as well so it maybe that a couple of items will have to stay here a little longer before we have the space in a car to get them there.

So Molly has one more sleep here officially before setting off on a new chapter and while we will miss her tremendously we are also thrilled that she has found someone that she wants to make a life with. We want nothing but happiness for both Molly and Ethan and never want to stand in the way of them making the life for themselves that they want to lead. They both need to embrace life and grab those opportunities whenever they present themselves and live their best life, all of the time.

And it is also one more sleep for me till I see White Lies again! So excited for this small venue gig in Bournemouth tomorrow evening where they will be playing an 'intimate' performance. We have been extremely fortunate to see them live a number of times already and back in February 2019 got to meet the band at a VIP event so I am really looking forward to seeing them yet again but in a different type of setting and manner.

And now I better stop typing, make a cup of tea and settle down to watch RuPauls Drag Race UK.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 595

Day 595...

A Wednesday has rolled around once more and for the third time this week I had a full day of work, actually in work!

The work day was filled with the usual bits and bobs; admin tasks, banking, prepping for new starters, responding to emails and thinking about our Christmas fundraising efforts. We will be holding a raffle 'virtually' as this worked really well last year and we are busy trying to source prizes that will entice people into buying tickets.

Arriving home I was greeted with badly parked cars and the workmen who are at a neighbours house blocking the way to my front door. Just slightly annoying when I've done a day at work, have my arms loaded down with bags and boxes and all I want to do is get in and grab a coffee.

But thanks to Simon there was a fresh pot of coffee waiting for me. Molly was busy yet again as she was dismantling some of her furniture that she is taking with her to her boyfriends house...we just have to figure out how we're going to get all her stuff into two cars!

Although Molly did manage to find the time to help me set-up a new phone for pre-school as it involved the cloud, syncing contacts, using bluetooth and more! But hopefully it does mean that we now have a slightly newer phone than before which, fingers crossed, should be a little more reliable.

Then while Molly headed out for her last ever kickboxing class I jumped online to record another episode of the Disney Dream Girls podcast. Both Michelle and I have very busy lives at the moment but we always try and find the time to record a show and this week we looked at some of the very tempting and delicious food offerings coming to Disneyland and Walt Disney World this holiday season.

Molly has been attending Paragon Black Belt Academy since she was around 7 years old, starting as a junior and continuing as an adult and earning her black belt second dan. She has formed some lovely friendships there, as have I from when I would attend as a parent and later with a fat loss group started by one of her instructors. So it is going to be very strange for us all to no longer be visiting there twice a week from now on as it has been such a significant part of Molly's life. Without wanting to sound overly dramatic it is the end of an era as Molly lets go of her kickboxing classes and guitar lessons...but onto bigger and brighter things.

And that was Wednesday...see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 594

Day 594...

Tuesday once more and another full day in work for me.

The day was a pretty standard work day although rather than working directly with the children like yesterday I was back to the managerial stuff. Lots of bits of admin, printing of stuff, updating the banking and the like. This is always a busy term as along with all the usual stuff we have a Christmas concert and Christmas party to organise, a 'parents to pre-school day', a Christmas raffle as well as looking ahead to January and starting our planning for then.

Back home and Simon was also having a busy day; he is approaching the end of the game he is currently working on and so deadlines are looming and they too are busy organising and prioritising.

Molly has been clearing through more of her stuff before the big move at the end of the week and has today managed to pack most of her clothes. She also ventured out into the garden shed to go through its contents and see what was hers, what she wanted to keep and what could be thrown away. Although a little drama did ensue when she tried on an old catchers mitt of Simon's and felt a sharp sting, dropped the mitt and saw a wasp fly out!

We ended the day with a trip down the 'gym' although it was noticeably chillier than of late and so we were very thankful that we have a small heater in the garage!

And that was a Tuesday, see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 593

Day 593...

After a week off it was back to work today although ordinarily I wouldn't work a Monday I was in today covering for another member of staff.

The day at work was a pretty standard sort of work day and all this week we are having a Halloween theme with lots of spooky activities for the children. We have a dark den set up with lots of sensory lights, we scooped out slimy pumpkins, made spider web pictures with marble painting and cut out spooky shaped sandwiches. All good fun and at the same time a little fundraiser for us as well.

On my way home I paid a visit to our local Asda as their Community Champion, Jon, had some items for me to collect. Asda are really good to us and help us out with lots of our activities, this week we are making pumpkin faces using wraps, ketchup and cheese as well as messy play involving spaghetti and Asda have given us all that we need to complete those activities. It was lovely to see Jon and have a catch-up and he will be visiting us in a couple of weeks when he will be making musical instruments with the children.

Arriving home there was a much needed coffee waiting for me. Molly has been going through more of her stuff and has filled at least three bin bags full of things she no longer needs. I was able to go through and grab a few bits that I can make use of at pre-school along with snagging a Mickey Mouse bum bag for me!

Simon has had a busy day making more progress on the game controller box he is building as well as getting mucky cleaning out the guttering, just before it decided to rain again!

And then Molly drove herself to her penultimate kickboxing class!!

Monday is done and I will see you all tomorrow.
xx