I’ve been a bit slack again, oops. I’ve actually been a bit poorly over the last couple of weeks, so not only have I have not really felt up for anything including writing but this means that exactly that- there’s not been much to tell.

I was feeling a bit run down and just put it down to general life getting on top of me a bit, but just carried ploughing on, it wasn’t until I visited the chemist to get some cream for a rash that had appeared down my back did she put all my symptoms together and tell me to book a doctors appointment fairly sharpish. Yes, I had the joy of experiencing shingles. I can safely say it’s a fairly shit experience that I most certainly would not recommend to anyone. I conceded to having to have some time off work, actually listened to the nurse and spent a couple of days on the sofa and even got myself some vitamins. I’d say I’m 95% of the way there now back to my normal self.

This meant that today I stuck the walking boots on again after a bit of a reluctant break from that too and tested myself to see whether I could still walk up a hill- the answer is yes, so I made it 2 just to be sure. Oli and I also did a bit more research into our little trek next month and realised that conditions might be a bit different to what we naively were thinking so we’ve both been making some Amazon purchases to ready ourselves for a bit of snow. We’re both pretty excited about the challenge we’ve set ourselves and the hot tub break that we’ve got as a reward afterwards!

The kids of course have kept me on my toes whilst I’ve been parenting from the sofa and at times just blatantly running rings around my muddled arse (nothing new there). Clara is learning quickly from her siblings and when she farted in the kitchen the other day, I asked her “Did you fart?” Her response quick as a flash, “No, you fart.” Thanks mate.

Seb is bringing sarcasm to a new level too. Last week he asked me for triangle sandwiches in his lunchbox and I panicked when I realised my confused brain had started cutting wrong and he ended up with 3 triangles instead. The next morning he asked for triangles again, I said “of course, I did you them yesterday but you somehow ended up with 3.” He didn’t miss a beat and replied with “It’s ok Mummy, you tried your best.”

But of course, the Queen herself is still reining high on her chair of sarcasm and mockery. Polly outdid herself the other bedtime when she volunteered to read the bedtime story. She kept getting distracted and going off topic every time she turned a page. Henry got a bit frustrated and told her to hurry up- “Can you just get on with the reading, this chit chat is getting boring.” Polly didn’t waste a second and shot back with “you’re boring.” I had to bury my face in a teddy to mute the laughter. Maybe she has been watching too much Brooklyn 99?

As I say there really isn’t much else to report expect that Polly did make us very proud at the weekend with a project she’s been a part of with Rainbows who joined up with the local artists. They’ve helped make a big billboard in one the car parks in the town which is made up of lots of pictures of the town to celebrate how great Sidmouth is. She’s, rightly so, very proud of her picture and it’s quite something to see her name on the list of artists. It makes me feel slightly better about the fact that she’s turned the dining room table into her art studio with several projects currently on the go- I mean she’s now officially an artist so a girl’s gotta have some space to work on her stuff.

I’m going to sign off now as she’s also charged me with searching for her pencil case which I’ve neglected to do this evening. I should probably also get a decent night’s sleep and hopefully I’ll be up to 100% come the morning- I might have to actually start wearing a bra again too as that’s the true sign that I’m better and I can’t really use the illness as an excuse for my slack behaviour anymore. We’ll just have to see what the morning brings.