Malawi & More

Double tyre replacement on Saturday... Fun. One slow puncture and one just a bit old. On Sunday I headed off to Essex for my one and only rehearsal with The Cured, ready for Friday. It went well, not my normal vocal range but it wasn't about that, they seemed happy. I cried a fair amount on the way there and on the way back. My thoughts of how much I miss Daren, how I would have loved to have been there with him, singing and making music. I doubt I'll ever stop feeling sad that we can't play and perform again. The 'working' week started with a lazy faff about and an attempt to learn the lines and not a lot more, other than a fun old trip to Aldi.   I did get dressed in work entire on Tuesday when I accompanied BigA to one of his European sessions. I was so very proud to see him in his element. An excellent delivery that showed his passion, knowledge and expertise. The first year Law students took lots in, as did I. The session was packed full and I learnt a lot too....

I missed most of the snow this week but did have about 30minutes drive back to London where it was falling hard.  It had been planned for a while so it was great timing to have a weekend with my highschool pals in Cambridge. The house I left was remarkably clean given the party the night before and I set off to have a leisurely day with 3 fantastic people who I have known for over 30 years. It's so true that you don't have to see people all the time to get right back into the flow, catching up and then laughing, making new memories and just being able to relax and feel utterly comfortable in my own skin. We enjoyed good drink and a delicious takeaway and the sense of joy that comes from people sharing time together.  Given that I didn't need to head back to London for work the next day I simply drove to my mum's for a few days of TLC and relaxation in my childhood home. The drive was lovely, I was able to enjoy the autumn colours and bright blue sky, a good podcast or t...

  This week I've been singing, finding my voice again. I went to Ed's and with a bunch of teenagers that are very much into music we tried out a few things. It was lovely to be singing, even in someone's front room. And I've been trying to get my head around the songs for Daren's tribute night.  Monday was all about M - the presents to start, then a birthday breakfast and out for dinner. So lovely to spoil her and she was thrilled to get cards and gifts from her 'not' family as we sometimes refer to us all. We had a lovely meal at a Turkish Place in Crouch End. I was so full I felt like I might explode. She also had a party yesterday, strange to think of her as an actual adult and A will be soon enough. They continue to benefit from my at home status with a couple of lifts to and from school. A has been busy sending off links to portfolios for her potential courses at uni. Each one is slightly different from the next so she has to do one for each. Last night...

Last weekend I caught up with S, known her for 17 years now - one of the NCT group. It was nice to see her and she led me to her (and her late father's) favourite Indian take away. Now a must try. I wasn't up for another Halloween party and saw BigA off in his Where's Wally costume and it's girls had a cozy night with the most recent jigsaw.  I am not able to reveal who I have in the secret Santa of course but did consider getting the presents while in Turnpike Lane. Still thinking what I'll do about a present for M for Christmas, I'm a bit sad she won't be with us.  On Sunday I finally met up with a lovely ex B teacher. She is one of those genuinely lovely people with a great number of funny stories. We also used her to look over A's portfolio - and although she doesn't teach that specification, she was hugely reassuring and helpful in terms of advice about next steps, how to link the various ideas and what A can do to prepare for a portfolio based ...

Saturday started with a house tidy and trip to the tip - it is satisfying to get rid of stuff. I'm sure we could be even more ruthless but at least a boot full went this time. I can't bring myself to get rid of bed sheets and duvet covers - but honestly I've counted them up and we have 11 double sets - with mostly non-matching pillow cases galore - we have 4 beds and 2 sofa beds. Will we ever actually need 11, let alone the couple of single ones knocking about too?  Then A (who did an early shift) and I headed to The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama for an open day. It was very interesting and she really likes it. I did my PGCE there and so it was nice to go back and see the place, which I didn't ever really do much of because you don't really spend much time at university when doing teacher training. We headed home to a very well decorated house and to get the last bits ready for the party. There was a real mix of people - loads of teenagers - frisbee peop...