We are having our bathroom done at long last. The house is in utter chaos. Basically as soon as we went into lockdown back in 2021 our rather tired bathroom gave up the ghost. The sink tap started dripping (have had plumbers in since and they basically said the tap needed replacing as a washer wasn't going to do it). The mixer tap in the main bath also stopped working properly so you couldn't get a hot bath unless you put in 4 kettles of water and the spotlights suddenly went rusty!
It was almost as if the bathroom realised it was going to be tough to replace. So for almost 2 years we've had flannels behind the dripping tap and have only had baths when we can be bothered to boil kettles (we do have a separate shower room I hasten to add).
The whole thing is going to take 2 weeks and we're currently half way through that. All of last week we had people in and out and bangs and crashes as the room got demolished.
It's not a big room, I thought when everything was taken out it would miraculously look larger. Oddly it looked even smaller! Anyway, I'm sure in a weeks time when it's all done I'll be thrilled, but right now I want my house back!!!!!
The builders do have this awesome stuff. Sort of clingfilm that goes over your carpet, I was hugely impressed and am considering seeing if I can find some in a nice colour so I can just completely cover my entire house with it.
Crikey - not sure what the current builder is doing - sounds like he's actually trashing the house. Hope it is still standing to post next week.
It's also first day of term for son. Yesterday I got his clothes ready and did a packed lunch and had a screaming row when I had the audacity to ask if he had a cooking class today - in case I needed to get ingredients together (apparently asking that question was just one question to many!!!!! grrrrr.....).
Then once I'd got his stuff all ready I said to him have you got all you need for tomorrow ready. Oh yes he said.
Fast forward to this morning - when I had 30 minutes of running around the house trying to find his pen, his pass card, his timetable, his...... Half way through one of the builders turned up and just stood there bemused as I was tearing around too busy to actually do anything other than leave him standing there. I mean of all the times to turn up!
Oh and my favourite moment when son started shrieking that his new trainers didn't even fit. In a flap I ran down to help and discovered that there was screwed up tissue paper in the toe (sigh).
On top of this at about 6.00am I realised I needed to pre-prepare supper as I'm going to use some left over pastry from Christmas (if not used today it will go in bin) so needed the filling to be cold.
The dog is barking constantly because so many people are in the house wandering around.
Aggggh, bark, bang, crash, 'doorbell', teenage strop.
I HATE MORNINGS!
Work's not great right now either. I spent most of last year working at a million miles an hour to get to business as usual with the department I was setting up. But they keep changing the goal posts. This means I continue to have to work at a million miles an hour constantly.
The job was a life decision - I decided to take a pay cut and do something that felt valuable.
Right now it doesn't feel valuable and I'm almost at breaking point with it. In order to take the pay cut I started working 5 days rather than 4 and I don't think I realised quite how valuable that extra day to do stuff was.
I feel utterly drained, exhausted. Most importantly I'm also starting to dread work.
So we'll have to see what the next few weeks brings. I'm seriously concerned that I'm going to have to hand my notice in.
I say concerned, because it's a job that has real value and I know that I can make a difference like nobody else can. I also really like the people, but it's beginning to get to a point of it's either the job or me - somethings going to have to give. They are giving me 3 more heads for my team, but that in itself creates a whole load of additional work, then they're going to need training. So in many ways I'd rather they hadn't so I can just try to get stuff done.
So no, I haven't started the week in a very positive place! I dare anybody to say platitudes like 'that that doesn't kill us makes us stronger' or even worse 'every challenge is a doorway to a new solution'....
So today's post is not just one massive whinge let's turn to this weekends dog walking.
Saturday was a VERY rainy day. I made the decision that there's no bad weather, just the wrong clothes. So I got into my wet weather gear and wellies and took dog for a walk. By the time we got home we were all drenched and dog was shaking like a leaf.
Sunday couldn't have been more different - a really lovely day and because of the rubbish weather the day before the surf was most definitely up. I said to family I was going down to seafront and who was joining me. Husband said he wouldn't because he was going surfing. Then at very last second he changed his mind and said he'd come with me for the walk.
I almost wish he hadn't - it was a slow and painful walk because he kept stopping and staring wistfully at the perfect surf - wishing he hadn't made the decision that he did.
Oh well, I did try to turn this post around and have a positive ending - turns out all I did for a whole post was moan.
FML
Oh I do have a high point actually. My mum's 80th is coming up and she has huge plans, she's hired a boat for a river cruise (just in the UK, not Prague or anything posh), with nibbles and fizz. A lot of planning has gone into it and I've been working up the invitations for her. I'm sure it's going to be a stunning event.
Anyway, she's invited son to bring one of his friends along to the event. It makes me giggle because can you imagine a teenager being invited to an 80th birthday party. Given I had son when I was 40 and my husband is 4 years younger than me and my 18 year old Nephew is unlikely to be able to make it as he's going travelling (fingers crossed that works out for him).... that means that son and friend will have 36 years between them and the nearest person on the boat (husband at 36 years older!).
Can you honestly think of a situation that any teenager would rather be in????? My son is going to have to come, but he can join husband and I handing around nibbles and drinks. He loves his granny to bits though so I'm confident he'll put up with it for her sake. Mum is sending us all to a local pub to eat first as she's worried we'll all eat the nibbles as we walk them around the boat (she may well have a point to be fair).
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