Review 1 of 2019

Welcome to a new series on the blog, one where I shall review 2019 by way of a monthly post. Let’s see how January went in review 1 of 2019!

Review 1 of 2019 – January

And just like that January is over, well i say ‘just’ like it flew by but in reality I am sure I can’t be the only person who felt this month went on for around 95 days?? 

With 6 weeks between the extremely generous ‘early payday’ and the next pay day on the 31st, its been a tough slog for a lot of us.   And we’ve been promised snow but we’ve had to put up with a few frozen mornings and sore fingers from constantly refreshing the weather pages.  

Plus the house looked so very sad without the Christmas decorations, and there is a huge lack of chocolate for breakfast, in fact chocolate of any kind is banned now the new year diet has started. 

Home improvements

But January has been a good month, a busy month but a great start to the year. We finished the front room, OK so finished is a bit of a stretch but after being out of action for several months, it is nice to have a room that is beginning to feel homely.

And my new arm chair is a little bit of heaven, only to look at though, i don’t want any bottoms defacing my new chair!

Birthdays

Then there were birthdays, Rob turned 39. It was a fairly low key (maybe i’ll do something more exciting next year for the big 4-0!) celebration.

I did make a promise for Rob’s birthday though, I finally agreed to sit and endure watch Lord of the rings. I was almost proud to say i’d never watched the films before. They feel like the sort of MUST watch films people bang on about, like Star wars (Never watched it) or The Godfather ( also never watched it!) and many other classics(that i’ve probably not watched)

We were to start on Friday and watch one a night for the weekend. Now I knew they were long films, but seriously?? If the film needs 2 discs, its too long. And actually if you think about it, the trilogy is basically one film so that’s actually 6 discs! I reckon (and i might) I could remake it in under 2 hours.

Just hand back the ring already Frodo! In the end I couldn’t hack it. We watched a film a weekend for 3 weeks, taking each disc change as a perfect time to stop. I just can’t cope with long films. But I did it, and you know what?? It really wasn’t too bad, but don’t tell him that for god’s sake! 

January Babies

Another weekend and another birthday. A weekend full of family and celebrations and an 11 year old!! How on earth F could be turning 11?? It seems as if no time has passed since he was born but that he has always been here. The day started with breakfast with friends, Its completely acceptable to eat pancakes and ice cream when its your birthday so that’s just what he did! 

He then went to watch his first football match at the Ricoh with Rob and his Dad. He absolutely loved it. The following day we had my Dad over and the whole of Rob’s family for tea and cake. Lovely time had by all but it is safe to say i’m not good at meeting the demands of 6 children all at once! I took great solace in the drive to Rugby and back again to take Dad home for some ‘Quiet time’.

Mid week drinking

I’m not a drinker, but when there is a reason to celebrate, sometimes champagne is essential! 

Rob’s divorce was finalised!!!

Drinking Champagne on a school night felt fabulously indulgent, even if it did just remind me that I really do not like Champagne. And i know its an occasion that brings with it some sadness but it has allowed us to finally pick a date and start making some plans for our wedding. You’ll have to wait for the date until we have met with the venue. But I am sure over time i’ll be sharing lots of the finer details here.

How to top that big news….

With a spring in our step, the very next day we booked to go to Euro Disney. I’ve been so desperate to go back but it felt like an expense we could not justify.

With the house needing work and the wedding to plan and pay for, it didn’t seem like a good use of money. But the children will only remain young for such a short time, F especially will soon be wanting to spend less and less time with us as a family I’m sure.

And making memories as a family is so important. We took the leap. So now if any of you have any ideas for keeping 3 children under 12 entertained on a coach for 12 hours i’ll happily take any you can throw my way! For my reservations, as soon as I’d paid the deposit the excitement began to build. I am going to be terrible for the next few months.

I am loving buying little Disney bits for the big reveal. Top to toe Disney!

Friend time

My 2 bridesmaids came to the Ricoh wedding fair with me. Now the last fair I attended was not great, taking children with us was not my greatest idea but also if you don’t have a date, forget it!

No one wants to waste their time talking to you without a date, fair enough I suppose. But now with a date in mind it was much more successful and it was nice to get the bridal party together. I came home full of excitement and lots of ideas.

A January well spent

It’s actually amazing how much you can fit in to 96 days hey? Its been a fun month and February seems like it has potential to be just as good. More birthdays, a lot more family time and hopefully some Algarve sunshine!