Oh Blog....How I've Missed You!

Hi everyone,
It seems ages and ages since my last post although it was only on Sunday and today is Thursday (so just 4 days). It has been a very busy time for me as I've had an 'interesting' sleepless night duty, a three day first aid course, one evening shift and hubby's birthday to fit into those three days plus the dog walks, the general housework that no-one else thinks needs doing and a supermarket shop and an emergency trip to the beach hut. I feel exhausted just reading back that paragraph!

My poor beach hut continues to struggle on. We had a call the other day to say that a lot of the huts had had their locks cut off, ours was one of them and that the hut wasn't secure. We had no option but to drive down to see for ourselves. When we got there, fortunately the locks were fine and hadn't been tampered with. The hut had also been put back it it's rightful place following the storms so we were keen to see how things were.
Unfortunately, as soon as we saw the hut we could see that there had been further damage, not from the weather or vandalism but from the act of putting it back in position. When we opened the doors the threshold fell apart, we couldn't open the internal door and and two of the floorboards were sticking up. There was also damage to the tongue and groove panels at various points around the hut. My heart sank as I surveyed the mess. This had all happened after a stressful day and my sadness at what I was seeing was possibly exaggerated because of my state of mind at the time. I rang a local chap who repaired our hut after the break-in in January and I wasn't even able to remember my own phone number when he asked me for it. What a wally!
I truly felt that the hut might be irreparable but, joy of joys, I spoke with him today and he feels he can patch up all of the damage and make the hut secure, maybe even by the end of the week or the beginning of next. I was so relieved. As usual, in my head the situation was far worse than it actually was. I guess I've always been a 'glass half empty' kind of girl.
So I'm keeping my  fingers crossed that I may be able to spend some time in my hut over the Easter holidays and the process of making memories can begin....good memories anyway.

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday. He doesn't like a fuss so the day was quite uneventful in that respect. The poor man left for work at 5.30 am and didn't get home until 6 pm so he hadn't seen anyone or opened any cards or any presents all day. However, when he finally got home he was able to open lots of cards and was happy that he received lots of iTunes vouchers. I got him a jacket - it's always risky buying him clothes as our tastes vary so much - and he loves it. He tried it out this morning when he was walking the dog and came back full of praise for it so well done me and well done Fat Face...and that's not my nickname for my hubby, it's a company!!

Yesterday was also the 1st anniversary of the death of my ex mother in law. She was a proper character who was proud of her East End roots and who was a wonderful Nan to my two eldest girls. While she and I had our issues over the years, I could never doubt her love for, and her love of, her grandchildren. Over the last 10 years or so she and I became much closer and I often used to pop in to see how she was. I did the occasional care work for her which always included a cup of tea, cheese and crackers and a good old chinwag.
I was out of the country working when I got the news and I remember feeling guilty because I wasn't at home to support my girls who I knew would be devastated. Talking to them on the phone made it harder somehow because all I wanted to do was give them a hug and make sure that they were OK.
My two eldest girls each paid tribute to their Nan in their own ways yesterday and I was very proud of them both for remembering her in such a loving way.  I know that she would be delighted.

I now have a few days with nothing planned and I couldn't be happier! I have no idea what I'll do or when I'll do it but I have the luxury of doing what I like when I like and I'm going to make the most of it ....or maybe I'll do what hubby always tells me I do which is fill up all of my free time doing 'something' instead of taking it easy.
In my head, taking it easy always equates to being lazy. I think it's because I always feel guilty if I'm sitting doing nothing because there are always so many things to be done. The fact that I knacker myself by trying to do everything is neither here nor there! I know, I am my own worst enemy. I'm learning to relax and chill but it's never been something that I have found comes naturally. That sounds really sad but it's true.

Have a good day everyone. Smile and be happy.

Much love

xxxxxxx