Mother's Day

Woke up with a bit of a heavy head this morning – thankfully nothing too serious. It was Mother’s Day, so did the usual bits to try and make it special for Tash… whether I succeeded is another matter, but there were plenty of messages coming through for her which was nice.

We started with tea and coffee in bed, then headed out for our usual walk up to Wytham Woods – bang on an hour again, we’re very consistent with that now. Back home, we got breakfast going and started prepping the Sunday roast for later. Jack wasn’t too impressed that Tash had already made a start as he wanted to do it himself – he had to settle for scrambled eggs instead!

We were back in time to receive Theo, Ralph & Olivia as we were looking after them for the day. To be fair to them, they were really good – much less arguing than usual, which made everything a lot easier.

We bundled them into the car and headed to McDonald’s for some lunch, then on to Millet’s Garden Centre where we met Charlotte and Mum. Jack was with us too. It was pretty cold there, but we did the usual wander around, grabbed drinks and cookies, and the kids went on the funfair rides which they loved.

After that, we all came back to ours, got the fire going and sat down to the roast – which was excellent as always. Nathan turned up briefly and was his usual whirlwind self!

Danny picked the kids up around 5.00pm, and we had a bit more of a catch-up before everyone gradually headed off. Once the house was clear, we tidied up and settled down to watch the next episode of Paradise, which is going really well.

We also watched the Louis Theroux documentary on the “manosphere” – quite a tough watch. Some of those blokes are absolute idiots, to be honest. It did make me pause a bit as a few of the “motivational” phrases sounded similar to things I’ve heard Jack say – not the nasty stuff, but the general tone. Hopefully just surface-level and nothing more.

That led into a bit of a “discussion” between Tash and Jack, which I quietly removed myself from and headed to bed!

End of another really good, full weekend – and Tash seemed happy (and a little bit tipsy by the end!).

End of Day Summary:
A busy but enjoyable Mother’s Day – family time, well-behaved kids, a great roast, and a relaxed evening. Slightly thought-provoking end to the night, but overall a warm and successful day.

Quick trip to London for a show

Up early again this morning and straight out for the now-standard walk up to the entrance of Wytham Woods. Managed it in 58 minutes, so the pace is staying pretty consistent which is pleasing. Good to get the steps in before the day even starts properly.

Work, however, was another story. Extremely busy again and definitely stressful at the minute. Feels like there’s constantly something needing attention and very little chance to pause for breath. Still, got through it all and at least I ate well today, which is helping balance things out a bit.

Jack cooked dinner for us this evening which was appreciated, and then we made sure to leave on time at 4.30pm because we were heading into London for the theatre. Amazingly, the journey in was unbelievably clear — almost suspiciously so — and we got parked in the usual place without any problems at all.

From there we had a nice walk across towards Piccadilly, grabbing snacks from Greggs on the way because, despite dinner, it somehow still felt necessary.

The show we’d gone to see was The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry at the Haymarket Theatre and it was absolutely brilliant. The second half in particular was incredibly emotional and really hit hard in places, but overall it was such a well-done production and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. One of those performances that stays with you afterwards and gets you thinking.

After the show we wandered back through London, got in the car and headed home. Thankfully the roads were still fairly clear and we made it back around midnight without any drama.

A long day, especially with work being as stressful as it currently is, but definitely worth it for such a good evening.

End of Day Summary:
A busy and fairly stressful workday balanced out perfectly by a fantastic evening in London. The theatre trip completely justified the effort and late night, with The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry turning out to be emotional, thoughtful and genuinely memorable. One of those evenings that reminds you why it’s important to still make time for things outside of work. 

Golf and Nathan's Birthday celebrations

Another early start this morning — 1st of March, new month and renewed enthusiasm!

Got sorted and headed off for golf with Wayne and Nathan Creed. It was actually a really enjoyable round. The course is finally starting to dry out after all the wet weather and we even had some decent sunshine for a change which made everything feel better.

I played reasonably well too, ending up around 88 which was enough to nudge my handicap down from 19.1 to 19.0. Progress, albeit painfully slow progress! It’s becoming clear that breaking through into the 18s is going to take some proper consistency and hard work, but at least it’s heading in the right direction.

After golf I came home and cracked on with various jobs around the house, including continuing my ongoing battle with the VHS recorder setup. I finally managed to properly work out the recording side of things, which felt strangely satisfying after all the messing around it’s taken to get there.

Later in the afternoon we headed over to Bicester. I drove because I’ve decided I’m going to try and seriously cut down my alcohol intake during March. We’ll see how successful that turns out to be…

It was Nathan’s birthday so the whole family gathered round which was really nice for him. Charl and Miles arrived a bit later because they’d been visiting a wedding venue beforehand and were absolutely raving about it afterwards. Sounds very much like they may already have found “the one” and, from the conversations, it seems the likely wedding date could be the end of April 2027. Very exciting to hear them talking about it all becoming real.

As people gradually headed home we stayed behind to help tidy everything up and then eventually made our own way home once it was all sorted.

We finished off the last few episodes of Paradise afterwards, so we’re now fully up to date. Really enjoying it actually.

So overall, a decent start to March. I stayed disciplined on the alcohol front, although perhaps less disciplined when it came to eating healthily. Still, it’s a start. Let’s see if I can actually lose some weight and get myself back into a bit of shape this month.

End of Day Summary:
A productive and positive start to March. Good golf, family celebrations and some exciting wedding talk from Charl and Miles. Pleased with the discipline around not drinking — now the challenge will be keeping the momentum going and balancing that with eating properly too.