So lazy (but not so...)

Well, I'm back.
Back, in the sense of being back home in Suffolk; and Back, as in the sense of returning to this blogsite. No explanations or excuses for absence, let's just reconnect and start afresh from now...

Our holiday was bloody fantastic. It can be a real trial to take young children away for a lengthy trip, but our week together couldn't have gone better. Rian is old enough to travel comfortably, and Mathew is old enough to understand what is happening and to even get excited about the fact that we are away. We had a whale of a time. I know people can spend countless thousands on foreign voyages to show their offspring the world, but we went off to a picturesque part of our home country and it was perfect for us. Mathew has already asked to go back. It's a possibility, but we're also considering the idea of staying even closer to home for our next booking, as there are some beautiful areas to visit not far from us, and when you're away, you're away, as far as I'm concerned. There doesn't have to be a ten-hour flight and a massive change in temperature before you start to see and feel the benefits of a break.
Philippa and I got on tremendously well, too, which was lovely after a difficult up-and-down few months. I never doubted our relationship, but the longer these things go on the more you worry they might be ending, and I did have wobbly moments over the Summer where I wondered if we could find a way to reconnect. But we did, and it's been wonderful since.
And I've even enjoyed being back at work! Having a nice spell offsite after the madness of the school holidays and then the havoc of Hallowe'en was just what I needed. Now there's less day-to-day firefighting and more of our usual Winter maintenance plan, so it's a lot less stressful and a lot more relaxed. And I have my weekends back now! I won't be working Saturdays until the start of Easter, and it's so lovely to know that we can plan more family things for the days when Philippa is off-work and Mathew is off-school. It's hard when I only have Sundays free in the Summer, and I'm normally exhausted on those Sundays, so we're determined to make the most of it while we have it over the next few months.

RC 14-11-24