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Tetbury is soul tonic, as is R. Our men were off to be brutally beaten at an Ultimate Frisbee grand masters tournament in Glastonbury, and we headed to her gym for a 'body blast' of squatting and more. Followed by Tesco, dog walk and lunch, afternoon nap, oodles of tea and talk in time for our men to return to a lovely evening meal. Sunday we had a lie in and then more tea and talk before walking across fields on the public footpaths, into town, a brunch and for me to get my glasses fixed. We spent much of the afternoon in her garden, us women weeding and moving primroses while the men tried and failed to put up a second hand greenhouse. Once home I caught up with the girls, burnt dinner, ate around the burnt bits and went to bed, content and rested. 

I was disappointed with the level of cloud on Monday but set about my list of things to do. One was a meeting to see if I could become a governor for a Trust in Islington. It is a fairly minimal commitment of 6 meetings across the year and I think a very important role. I thought given my experience of late it is so important to have good governance and I know it will help me keep up to date with Educational movements while not being in a leadership position. I decided to wander to meet the girls to take them out for lunch - we had a very leisurely and enjoyable meal of noodles and gyoza - it looked full of vegetables and felt very healthy too. I wandered back via Stake Attack to get new knee pads. BigA returned home from his days in Scotland and we caught up. One topic was the conclusion of a mysterious set of messages I'd received from someone telling me they knew we 25 years ago. Despite me kind of guessing and my sister agreeing who it was, they had continued to give clues - but as I pointed out they were all things about me - which of course I knew. Eventually he sent a picture and yes - it was my old boss from when I worked at the bakery in my second year of uni. He reminded me he had offered me a job - I'd have had to leave uni and go to America, which, as you know I didn't. How different my life would have been. We chatted on the phone, bringing back some very funny memories of our rather peculiar friendship. There's something about talking about days long gone that can make you feel young again. He was very complimentary about the impact I'd had on him, refusing to believe I was a very ordinary person and he said I had been the only person in his life who had made him stop to smell the roses. I was happy about that. I very much think it is so important to make space for appreciating the joys and positives in life. There are so many, no matter how crap life can seem. 

I'm still managing to keep my lenten promise. I'm impressing myself on this! J and N came over for dinner and I made a rare treat for me, beef bourguignon (BigA was out). We had a lovely time and our new sofas were perfect for pre meal chats and looking out on the garden. I've kept busy enough and enjoyed the afternoons of sun. On Thursday I went to meet J for a drink and then A joined us. Always good to try the latest non alcoholic attempts and this time it was Zero Guinness. Not bad at all. In the pub I could small the chips in the kitchen and on the way home we walked past the fish and chip shop and once again the smell was simply too appealing, so A and I agreed we simply had to get some. That meant dinner was bean stew I'd made earlier in the day, a beautiful salad that BigA had almost finished when we got back and proper chips. Lush. 

Then Friday, we were exactly on time and straight in to meet with Dr D, we'd only just exchanged pleasantries when a knock at the door meant a man in a suit walked in. We re-acquainted ourselves. Now Prof - not Dr - Ps, he and Mr B were the surgeons who took out that nasty cyst and brain tumour. It is an odd feeling sitting across from We laughed when he looked at the scan. 'We did a good job actually' he pronounced, and BigA remarked it sounded like they didn't always. 'We don't' he replied! He was there because the cyst around my top spine tumour has been growing and it is time to make some choices about surgery. The choice, sooner or later. As I'm currently symptom free it is a good time to discuss so now more of the never ending waiting game for a meeting with the better equipment he has in his department. As it was pointed out, we need to know exactly what the surgery is before making an informed decision. Then the better news, nothing new and nothing else has grown. So I think it is safe to assume that within the next 12 months I'm going to once again follow in my father's footsteps and get another scar for my collection. N, my nurse then took us through to a new space run by a charity that has free tea and coffee and is a place to quietly sit. She was kind (bad cup of tea) and I had another cry. We sat for a bit and then wandered to my favourite cafe for a bacon roll and a much better cup of tea. Then home and time to process and begin to move the fear into sensible bundles of worry and our new normal.