... Just got to ride it.
The clichéd lyrics to Ronan Keating’s song* undoubtedly have a different message but I am still going to steal them unashamedly for this week’s #Write52 offering. And, once again, I’m going off-piste but I’m hoping someone will enjoy (recognise/relate to?) my tale of last weekend’s ups and downs!
Friday morning - up
Cracking swimming lesson with Izzy. We've been to swimming lessons with Infant Aquatics ever since Izzy was 4 months old, and while the first few months seemed an uphill battle (particularly when we were trying to get her changed post-swim), our perseverance seems to finally be paying off. She’s super confident in the water and will happily chase me around the pool wearing just a back float. Pure joy.
Friday lunchtime - up
Lunch at our local café “The Good Bean” is always a hit, especially Bridget’s chocolate cake. Yum.
Friday afternoon - down
Just yesterday, Ed (he of #Write52 fame) very kindly gave me and other deserving mums and dads a shout-out on Twitter, marvelling at us full-time parents who also juggle freelance businesses. I’m not going to lie, sometimes it’s a major struggle and I wonder why/how I do it. But most of the time, it runs like clockwork. Unless of course the child refuses to nap, as was the case on Friday. So I didn't get much work done, especially as overtiredness results in less than ideal toddler brain capacity to remember she no longer wears nappies. Oh and cue major overtired tears come bedtime, too. Boo.
Saturday morning - up
I, along with the other committee members from the ITI East Midlands Regional Group, had organised a CPD workshop all about managing your finances as a self-employed individual with local accountancy firm Bulley Davey. While planning the event hit a few bumps along the way, on the day in question, the event proved to be hugely successful. Some attendees even suggested it was the most useful workshop they had ever attended, so we’ll take that. The speaker, Mandy, was truly excellent and was incredibly generous with her time and advice. I’ve come away with a few different things to explore, not to mention helpful hints and tips to share with my friends and family.
Saturday afternoon - up
While in Market Harborough for the workshop, I took the opportunity to pop along to Refill Revolution to stock up on a couple of bits - more to follow in future weeks. But I also happened to have a chat to Sarah, a baker with a stall in Harborough’s indoor market. Not only did I buy some generous slices of coffee and walnut cake to share with my folks back home, we also got chatting about work and I may even end up helping her fiancé with a tricky translation conundrum - it always pays off to have a business card or two in the handbag.
Still Saturday afternoon - major down
Riding high, I returned to my car in the sunshine, jumped in and was looking forward to going back to my parents’ house to see Izzy and Sally and to bask in the glorious late-September sunshine. But it turns out thieves had other ideas since they decided to steal my car’s catalytic converter at some point during the day. Boo. This type of theft is seemingly on the rise if the news is to be believed, but still. Double boo.
The police say it takes the thieves longer to get underneath the car than it does to steal the parts. They certainly made light work of it underneath my motor!
Cue long phone calls with my insurance provider, who eventually organised for me and my car to be rescued and taken home again. While I’m not relishing my husband Ben being away in Japan for 8 weeks while he films to Rugby World Cup, it does mean I’m pretty lucky since his car is sitting unused on the driveway right now, so I wasn’t suddenly without wheels. But it sounds like it’ll be a few months yet before I get my car back on the road as parts shortages are resulting in lead times stretching into the New Year. Yep, you read that right: it currently looks like I won’t be getting my car back until January. Triple boo.
But on the upside, it could have been so much worse. It could have been Ben about to leave a football stadium at some ungodly hour in the morning. I could have been on the other side of the country. I could have had Izzy and/or Sally in the car with me. So while I’m frustrated it’s happened, if it had to happen, at least it was on my doorstep and my human/fur offspring were being well cared for by my folks at the time.
Saturday evening - minor down
Mum and I had planned to go and see Downton Abbey at the cinema this evening, but by the time I’d been towed home, collected Ben’s car and headed back to my parents’ house, I was pretty knackered and given the events of the day, I didn’t fancy it anyway. Maybe we’ll manage to make it next weekend instead.
Sunday lunchtime - major up
Now some of you may already know that, given that I’m not already juggling a few different balls (!), I decided to set up a netball club here on my estate in Corby around 16 months ago: Priors Hall Park Netball Club (PHPNC). The club has grown steadily in that time and now has around 30 members, all affiliated to England Netball. The next logical step was to join the Corby Netball League and today was the day: our first competitive match.
I’m not going to lie, I was feeling pretty nervous. My ladies are virtual beginners and we were due to face some stiff competition from last year’s runners-up so it was going to be a feisty match. But having said that, all the players kept their heads up and really seemed to relish the opportunity of stepping out on court. I am super proud of them for doing it and equally proud of myself for getting them in a position to compete, too. Here’s to many more well-fought, competitive matches over the coming weeks. (I can only half-heartedly apologise for any future netball-related posts - it's a great sport, after all.)
Sunday afternoon - down
Anyone living with a two year old will happily regale you tales from the terrible twos. It’s certainly an emotional onslaught at times. We’re lucky in that Izzy is an incredible communicator, so can usually explain what’s tipped her over the edge. But not this time. I’m still not entirely sure what triggered such a strong emotional outburst, except perhaps me doing that mum thing of saying you can’t have a chocolate biscuit (or anything else for that matter!) until you’ve finished at least some of the sausage and chickpea stew my mum had so lovingly prepared. But anyway, the outburst was unpredictable and Izzy was utterly inconsolable - and tough on my emotions, too.
But this week deserves to be less of a roller-coaster, right?! So far so good, but it's only Wednesday...
More on #DitchingThePlastic in your bathroom next week!
*Another earworm for you:
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