But I Smile Anyway…

Well hello there!

A week has gone by and it is definitely time for our weekly catch up over a chai, or any beverage you fancy!

• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d tell you that my exhaustion has not stopped. In fact, it near killed me at the beginning of the week, with a two-day migraine, that got me sent home from school on Monday and kept me off on Tuesday too. I even missed a trip to take the children to the library, so you know it was bad!
• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d tell you I was pretty nervous about going back to school, but that everything was actually pretty good in the end!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d let you know that another extremely special BBF of mine had her 45th birthday, and we celebrated by her drinking her pink gin present, followed by me getting another migraine!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d be complaining about the fact that my taxi service is back in service now too, now that Lil Man’s indoor Cricket training has started up! Meh!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d be discussing the 11+ tests, and telling you how hard it was to see and hear about the children who had passed/failed – cried/jumped for joy, all for this selective education that is not actually accessible to everyone, and the results of which can affect a child negatively, if they think, at 11, that they failed.
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d confess that I have become a Baby Shark addict and that I play it as a get-up and dance song with my nursery children on the two days I am in charge of them!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d tell you that we had a wonderful Friday evening with my Brother in Law and his wife. It was an impromptu evening full of food, drink and a whole lot of belly laughter!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d mention that we had a day out as a family on Saturday and I had the joy of taking a certain young lady for her first bra fitting – EEEK! We went to the cinema and watched Night School, which was really funny, but also touched upon Special Educational Needs – a topic close to my heart.
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d say that Sunday was almost idyllic, with me sitting on the sofa most of the day, unless I needed to feed people, reading. My perfect downtime.
• If we were sipping chai together, I would tell you that Pops cataract operation went really well, and hopefully, the follow-up appointment will be positive, resulting in him getting a date for the other eye op too!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d be showing off my lovely french manicured nails too. I do love a fresh set of nails!!!

And for the week ahead?

• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies, I’d let you know that I am trying not to count down, as every day is a new day, but that this is the last week before our October half term week off! 
• I would mention that it is harvest festival at school this week and that I need to remember the donations for the food banks that my kids need to take in!

So, what’s your week been like, and what are you looking forward to?

If you want, drop a line in the comments, or even link back to this with a Chai and a Chat post of your own!

Well hello there!

I have decided upon a new feature on my blog, which will appear on a Monday morning because I think it is always good to celebrate your victories or be able to open up about any difficulties, then build that bridge to get over them and focus on the coming week.

And what better way to do that than to catch up over a cuppa, a chai for me, but you can join in with any beverage!

• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d tell you I am exhausted. It’s been a week of craziness, trying to get all the schools looked at before we put in our applications for Lil Princess’s secondary school. When did she get so big? I’d mention how hard it is to decide, do we go with the same as her brother, or another school? She likes them all, and in all honesty, they are all Ofsted-rated Good and have much to offer. I am confused! I tell you what, Headteachers sure know how to sell their schools!
• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d tell you that I have had a stressful week at work, trying really hard to be that positive person, despite certain situations. I may have on occasion been delivering PanAm smiles, rather than genuine ones at a few points, but hopefully, things are smoother.
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d mention that my absolute bestie celebrated her birthday on the weekend, and I was gutted I couldn’t be with her, but so happy to be a part of her life – Happy Birthday Buzz!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d moan about how annoying it is when people decide to announce they are going to visit, at the last minute, and you have to change all your plans! Seriously, that bugs the heck outta me!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d excitedly tell you that I was chosen as one of five writers to take part in a TUFF rodeo challenge over at Charli Mills Carrot Ranch! So, my writing must amount to something… Meh to the Daily Mail and Penguin Random House who didn’t shortlist my novel!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d want to pull my hair out and tell you parenting a teen and a tween is really hard! What with demands for new consoles because everyone else has one, to sim cards for a phone, because I will lose all my friends if I don’t have their numbers before we start secondary. Er, hello…It’s October. You have until next July before you leave, and if others have phones, get a pen and paper, and write the numbers down!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d be proud to announce that I was part of an official blog tour for one of my favourite authors, Amanda Prowse, for her newest book, The Coordinates of Loss. Amazing book, seriously!
• If we were sipping chai together, you’d notice I am swishing my new hair around, as I got a lovely cut and colour done on Sunday morning. Love a haircut!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d also mention that I had a loooong video chat with my brother in Helsinki, and did some virtual babysitting with my baby nephew, Finndian #2! So cute!

And for the week ahead?

• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies, I would tell you I am looking forward to a week of nothing major planned for a change! Aside from one afterschool activity that I need to be a taxi service for, and getting my nails done on one day, there is blissfully nothing to rush around for!
• I would also tell you that Pops and Mum are back from Finland, and Pops is doing great, but he has another operation today, this time on one eye for cataracts that are forming, so we are praying for a straightforward procedure.
• I have implemented a new chart system thingie with my kids, to combat the attitude and behaviour, and to get them to earn their pocket money… wish me luck!
• Maybe, if I am organised, I can get one with my editing, or researching agents to send the synopsis off to!

So, what’s your week been like, and what are you looking forward to?

If you want, drop a line in the comments, or even link back to this with a Chai and a Chat post of your own!