Holidays
Well, last week was pretty good! Had a lovely dinner with some friends, and saw Grease with them at a local theatre; took the car in for a much-needed service (which spilled over two days as they had to get parts in); shampooed the carpets and rugs in the house, with much moving of furniture; did very nearly the last of the paperwork about dad's move (applying for Blue Badge and Bus Pass now he's on the electoral register, sorting out tax affairs); organised more details about our skiing trip; and found plenty of time to watch films, read, and play computer games. It's really feeling like the holidays now!
On Saturday, Neuromancer spirited the children and my dad off to the beach; I prepped my motorbike and took it for a spin (purely to recharge the battery, of course), then wandered off for drinks, food, and a film with a colleague (a regular monthly fixture). Unfortunately, N had borrowed my keys and when I returned it was too dark to see the numbers on our key lock-box, so I had to wake her up in the small hours to let me in. Oops. Then on Sunday, N had an early-morning flight to Germany for a conference; I took Dan to swimming lessons, then we went on for lunch and Ice Age 4.
Yesterday, we met Sumba and his family (who are on holiday in the Lakes); we explored two sites on the Roman Wall, and the children had an absolute blast running around with plastic swords. Then back to ours for more swordfighting and a burst of Lego Star Wars. A really good day!
Today and tomorrow will be very low-energy at home; the children can play and potter around (yes, and watch some DVDs etc) while I get things ready for forthcoming trips. I'm heading down to Oxford on Thursday for a Society of Authors do, then meeting the others for our big Group Holiday in the Forest of Dean, and then heading on to tour Wales while N+kids head to Germany for camping. See many of you later this week!