Last weekend alone for a while

So it's the homestraight now before Pete comes home and I just can't wait. I'm busy busy busy doing all the things that I've inevitably put off to the last minute but it's slowly getting there. I'm looking less poodle like than I was last weekend and the grey is getting it's cover up tomorrow morning followed by an intense major spring clean and getting the jobs done and out of the way so that the bank holiday weekend can be spent purely enjoying the company of the family....once again complete...if only for a few weeks.

Usually, onboard, the guys tend not to shave until they hit ports and I've never seen Pete with a beard so told him to keep his til he got home just so that me and the girls could have a giggle about it. I really didn't want to see what it looked like before but someone tagged Pete in a photo on facebook, taken when they were alongside in Fujairah. It took me about three minutes to actually realise it was him as I was convinced that someone had tagged the foot in the foreground as him! Even though I recognised the t-shirt, I was convinced it was my friends husband and although I wondered what Paddy was doing wearing Petes t-shirt...I didn't even give the furry monstrosity another thought.......then it hit me! Scary thing is that this photo was taken about four or five weeks ago now so God only knows how long it is now. Emily told him on the phone 'mummy said you'll be all itchy and scratchy when you kiss me' to which Pete replied 'no, i'll be all soft like a giant build a bear!'. Nice answer!

So this week, all is back to school and nursery and the couple of weeks off have seen some major drops in standards that I haven't been too pleased with. The girls rooms are back to being a health and safety issue with either biological breeding (in the case of Freya's room) or trip hazards (in the case of the littlies) so a massive row has now scared the crap out of them! They've also been banned from the playroom until which time they decide to KEEP their rooms tidy (god, i'm such a tyrant).

We went off to the Radford Centre in Plymstock yesterday for another family of Torbay get together. This time we were treated to a performance by Elfic the Juggler, which was great. I'd really recommend him for parties and stuff and his prices are really good too. After the buffet the kids got a chance to do the circus workshop and have a play with the props.

Emilys' face as she skated along with a spinning plate was brilliant...i've never seen her concentrate so hard! Natasha loved the show but was more interested in the bouncy castle when that was up and Freya spent most of the time running between the stilts and food.......food is definately her 'thing'.

The only downside to Pete being home is that the avalanche of family events will stop for a few months but the group are already organising a full event list for when the boat goes back to sea. I've never been one for getting involved in a social way with other naval families, thinking it to be a little clicky and a bit 'everyone wanting to know everyone's business' but it's been lovely to get out and meet a load of new people and be able to provide a bit of support for one another. Plus the kids have had a great time too.

So off I totter to try and get the rest of the house in order, beat Freya to encourage her to finish her homework and prise apart Natasha and Emily who seem to be constantly bickering at the moment......oh the joys of parenthood.

Happy Anniversary!

Although Interflora decided to wrestle me from my bed yesterday, I decided not to share my delivery until today as today is our wedding anniversary. Spoilt? I should cocoa! The most beautiful pink bouquet of flowers, a lush and cuddly teddy and six helium ballons...one for each year (if he keep that up it could be scary before long). The nicest thing though is the fact that he's alongside in Crete for a few days so we actually got to talk to each other. I have no idea what it has been with this trip but there's been a lot of soul searching in our relationship over the past couple years and I'm now at a place where I didn't think i'd be. I know marriages have their rough patches but I kind of always thought that a rough patch spelt 'the end', guess it's just because my first marriage ended completely out of the blue with no preceeding issues.

I'm so lucky to be with someone who, like me, believes that marriages can be hard work, especially when you spend FAR less than half your time together. It's that time that either brings you much closer together or drives a huge bloody great wedge between you. In our case, it's definately the former. Neither of us are perfect and we accept our faults and love in each other because of them rather than love each other in spite of them. Only eight years ago, I remember breaking down in tears to my dad, who by the way has never been the one to speak to about 'emotional stuff'. What worried me wasn't being on my own, it was not being physically able to love anyone again. I genuinely didn't feel like I would ever allow someone to become close to me again and a couple of relationships I dabbled with just proved my point. When someone once told me they loved me I told them, 'shut up, you couldn't possibly love me this early'. It spelt the end of one quite promising relationship at the time.

I guess that when Pete came into my life, I was in a completely different place. I'd just got to the stage where I was convinced that I would spend the rest of my life with my daughter...not like some hermit crab as I had a great social life and a really great bunch of friends, but I wasn't looking for a relationship at all, just some fun nights out and maybe meeting some new people and having a laugh. I think that's why everyone was so shocked that after only six weeks of meeting, Pete and I were engaged to be married. I guess we just knew. People thought (either quietly or loudly) that we were making a mistake and being rash, but I think that by now we've proved them wrong.

Even when we've had our bad times, the truth is we've never imagined our lives without each other and never could. I can't imagine my life without my soul mate. We can be like chalk and cheese with some things, but I know that noone will ever understand me the way he does. So happy anniversary honey. XXX

BAD BLOGGER!

The easter holidays have whizzed by in a blur of activity, which when you're counting down days til homecoming is somewhat welcome. Strange though how it feels like forever ago that the girls were at school. I've had poor Natasha burn her hands on a saucepan and had to go to not one but two casualties. Luckily it was nothing serious and the blisters and now well and truly gone. To be honest she was only upset til they put the burn cream on her hands at the first minor injuries unit..by the time she got to Derriford she was fine. Think it was more difficult for her with the bandages on, especially as on her left hand she had a big ET finger style dressing...resisted the temptation to paint the tip red though.


Just thought i'd include this photo though which was taken just before they broke up, with Emily wearing some comical glasses and pulling her usual silly face. Talking comical glasses, I finally got my new ones yesterday, lovely pair of Tommy Hilfigers that I just know Pete will hate....told him yesterday that i'd got them and he said, 'what do they look like?' to which i replied, 'think TWO RONNIES'......think he got the point! I love them though which is good seeing as they are generally a permenant fixture on my face. Think even a few of the staff at specsavers were a little taken aback by my prescription......meet the real life Mr Magoo! Would take a photo but seeing as I had my perm yesterday I will wait til the inevitable 'frizzy poodle' phase has died down first.

Lil 'sis ended up OK in the end which is good. That week she had an operation on her foot to reset the bones in her toes and is now hobbling around in some weird kind of black japanese style wedge thing. She's gonna be out from work for about two months so we're all doing our bit to try and make sure she's managing with the kids.

I did have my 'night off' and it was lovely although i shouldn't have stayed up til 5am scrapping! Do have a little project I finished but still haven't taken photos so will add that tomorrow. Pete has finally been paid all of his outstanding back pay which has certainly made life easier. It has meant that yesterday i could get on with preparations for the homecoming, hairdresser, new outfit, trip to town for goodies, booked the waxing (ouch) etc. I don't get into the city much to be honest now I'm over the 'other side' but when I do, I make up for it!




Natasha enjoying the bubbles....if only the WHOLE easter holiday had been so easily solved!


I still have a few more things to sort out before the big day and I'm starting to get really excited now and less of a misery arse. Unusually for the submarine service, they've organised quite a homecoming. We'll all be going out to Devils Point to watch the boat come into Plymouth Sound and then off to Devonport Dockyard to meet them. They've laid on food and entertainment so we're all going this time. Normally I don't wait and meet the boat as it normally takes hours once it gets alongside for the guys to get off, not quite as straighforward as a ship! So usually i wait for the call to pick him up from outside the yard so this is going to be a first for me.

Freya is back tomorrow from visiting her dad in France, can't wait for her to see what I bought yesterday. We're all big fans of singstar in this house, despite most of us being either tone deaf or not having enough lung capacity to hold a note. Apart from Freya of course who has a gorgeous voice! So yesterday they had a deal on at GAME and I picked up the Queen Singstar for PS3 which she's going to love (she's currently doing Alice in Wonderland which has Queen songs as the score) and no doubt we'll have that out with the new wireless microphones which had a tenner off when bought with the disc. Nice idea for the wireless, no tripping over when we have our drunken singstar nights with the family, bit concerned though that they'll end up lost down the sofa during those nights!

Do have a few other things to talk about but the girls are begging me to get the paints out so must obey! Back tomorrow with more of an update.