The warmth of family

K left for India last Saturday. My parents and Lichie are here with me since. And I must tell this has been the most unique 7 days of my life. And there are 4 more to go before the kids and I start to India. 

I have to do the drops which was K s responsibility. It adds an extra task to the day and makes it a bit more hectic. The bit I dislike the most is bidding them goodbye. Pick ups are a much better task when they come all happy and running telling tales of the day. Once the kids are dropped at school, it's the four of us. A proper throwback to our school days. It is very different. Those days 30 years ago were full of struggle. Both our parents were working, we kids were stressed with school work. Things have taken such a turn now. We are older and have so much to converse with our parents. Along with work there  are cups of tea and random discussions on things like why are pension ages increasing, what is the role of opposition and many many more.

We all go for some sort of exercise, not together but around the same time. It is lovely to come back all refreshed and then relish the delicious lunch mummy makes. She makes the simplest but tastiest stuff. Once the kids are back there is the usual running around after them. We play chess, monopoly,watch some documentary or again just start chatting.

As the days wind down, I can't help but treasure them. By some weird twists and turns God has brought me to this juncture which I never thought was imaginable. I am with my most favourite people. 

Not all gloom and doom

 My last post had roomie dear quite worried. Yes things are going a bit awry, but there are always silver linings. Even when it snows! This winter, we did not have any snow.  There were cold snaps, there were Arctic winds, but no  snow. Till finally in March, while we are in cusp of spring, it snowed. Again, Arctic winds were blamed for the phenomenon. But who cares about the why. We are concerned with the what to do with it. :) 

We have recently got a sleeping bag. Our intention is to probably camp in the garden in the summers. But well who has seen summer when its snowing in March :D So we offered the girls if they want to be warm and cosy in the sleeping bag on the floor of our room. Such excitement among the lil ones at the idea of trying something different. We 4 were all cosied up like a family of hedgehogs with the heating on in full blast. We had a truly tropical environment going on over there :D

The next day, the school closed at 1345 because of bad weather. The girls were over the moon! Who doesn't like a shorter work day :D They came in, had mug fulls of hot chocolate and then it was TV first before anything. After the extra screen time, it was back to the usual rigmarole of wrapping up for the day.

But we woke up to a ton of good news! There was a lot of snow and the school was closed due to bad weather. The kids as expected got ready in their thickest coats and got playing on the snow :) It was all going too well, till there was a fight regarding the snow man. All went down hill from there. Kids were bickering, crying and since K and I had to work, we were joining in with shouting as well. Not good. But I had a back up. We decided to goto my sister's place! (Not sure if I mentioned but she has a place of her own in Leeds and my annoying parents are with her :D ) So without further ado, we went to her place. It was a surprise and what a pleasant surprise it was! It was wonderful again to work in the sunny confines of her home with the sunny vibes of family cheering up a really cold day. Small joys, small wins :) 

Not going well

 This year has not been going great so far. There are far too many issues on the home and work front that keep me quite anxious. They are not earth shattering or life altering things, but just constant, persistent issues and scenarios that make me unhappy. I get head aches. Once awake at night, I find it difficult to get back to sleep. I was talking to a friend and she said, the added pressure to be resilient is not good. So take the chance to be vulnerable. Not sure what might be the right drift of things. Hopefully things pan out better 🤞