It’s been a good week, but a tiring week. I can’t reiterate enough how glad I am to not actually be working any more. It’s literally heaven every day – even when I’m hoovering or scrubbing the house! That said, I haven’t been doing an awful lot of that, but I have at least been keeping on top of things like the dishwasher and the washing.

Monday was a teacher training day at the kids school, so we had one last day together before school started. I’m used to the girls going to their dad’s on a Monday so it was nice to actually feel like I got that last day with them myself. Chris was at work so as such it was just us girls. In the morning we just hung out and chilled, but in the afternoon we had arranged to go swimming with my mum, who traveled over to come with us. When she first arrived, I had to get her to sort out some photographs with me, but after that we headed out swimming. It was about 3pm when we went in and about 4pm when we came out. Afterwards I had her drive me past Argos so I could pick up an Ab Roller I’d ordered and I also popped into Sports Direct where I bought another swimming costume each for the girls and two Frozen dresses as well.

Mum decided she would treat us all to Chinese takeaway which went right again the diet but was much appreciated! I put a little bit of money towards it too so I could order a little extra for Chris and save him some, but somehow we ended up with tons anyway. Once food was eaten, mum headed home and the girls and I had a little extra time before Chris was back. Both girls had to be in bed promptly though, especially with school the next day. I spent majority of the evening, catching up on blog stuff and also updating my diary and making sure I had current plans written in it. Afterwards Chris and I watched some TV together and snuggled on the sofa.

On Tuesday it was up early and out of the house for everyone – and boy was it a shock to the system! The kids’ dad was having them after school though so I just headed straight home and worked on my blog – which I had just moved to self-hosted. I had left over takeaway for lunch and felt a little guilty about the health kick I was supposed to be on. I vowed to go running the next day (though no surprise, that didn’t happen!).  My brother called in after he’d been to mum’s that night and so we had time to catch up too. The girls arrived home and Chris came in from work and it was a little crazy for a while but nice too. The girls and I started on the second Never Girls book called “the space between” and when I updated Goodreads it also made me feel guilty for not even attempting to read any more of my own books!

Honestly I don’t really remember what I did that evening but I know Chris and I finally managed to catch up on both Arrow Season 3 and Flash Season 1, up to the mid-season break. This is great because we managed to watch the cross-over episodes in the right place and be ready when the series’ start airing again soon!

Wednesday was school and work again, another early start that really was taking its toll (god knows how I managed to function when I was working too!). I dropped the kids off at school and headed into town for a little while – even planning to go for my job afterwards. Like I said before, that didn’t happen – I don’t know if it was the latte I chose to buy which made me feel sloshy, or the fact it started raining (or of course sheer laziness) but either way, I was rubbish! I headed home and made a start on sorting out my jewellery, before heading back out to get the kids. After school we were supposed to watch a Disney movie (it was supposed to be Tinker Bell but we’d already watched it accidentally so we were going to watch Snow White) but none of us could be bothered and we just wanted to mong! Megan and Lily just played on iPads and computers while I tuned out to the TV. I did manage to keep on track with food this day and combined with the walk in town that morning I definitely felt healthier. In the evening I cracked on with more work and all in all, it felt like a constructive day.

Thursday I dropped the kids off at school and headed to see my mum briefly. Afterwards I headed back to Gainsborough where I needed to get some shopping and managed to waste a few hours around Marshall’s Yard. I did spend the last of my M&S voucher (from my birthday) on some healthy food and that felt very positive. I then went home and had soup for lunch, which also felt very good. I finally got my Ab Roller built too, though I won’t lie and say I used it. I mean I did check it was all working fine – but for maybe 20 roll ups! The girls were staying at my mum’s that night and so in the evening Chris and I just spent time hanging out.

On Friday I got a lie-in! It was so needed. Chris climbed out of bed around 7.10am and although I was aware of him moving downstairs, as soon as he left at 7.25am, I went back to sleep. I woke up at about 9.30am but I didn’t get out of bed until 10am. I potted around the house in my dressing gown and was basically very lazy! I made a few phone calls which I’d been needing to do and I put on more washing, hung it out on the radiators and did the dishwasher etc. I made myself a light lunch and then got to work on my Get Fit Friday post – which is my ongoing series to track my weight loss.

Eventually it was time to leave as I’d told my mum I would call in on her again before picking up the girls. I stopped with her for a cup of tea before heading to school and picking up the kids. We headed home and got some dinner, only to realise our Disney task for the day was to make disney themed food. We didn’t have an awful lot of choice so we just made some cupcakes in the shape of Mickey Mouse – and as it was late, we said we’d decorate them the next day. Once the girls were in bed and Chris was playing on his computer, I sat and watched a movie by myself and just chilled out. When we eventually headed to bed, I couldn’t sleep – so typical since I’d managed a lie-in that morning! It was gone 1am before I actually got to sleep and I can’t tell you how many times I nearly got up and did something “useful”.

On Saturday we didn’t have much planned but Chris did have his first driving lesson booked for 10am. We woke up naturally about 5 minutes before his alarm was set to go off at 9am and dragged ourselves out of bed. While Chris was out on his lesson, the girls and I got cracking with everything we needed to do that day. Sadly the cupcakes got eaten however, rather than decorated. Once Chris was back home, Megan and I went out to buy some ribbon. We were way longer than we had expected to be, coming home with £30 of stuff. After getting some lunch, Megan and I spent the afternoon learning how to make bows. It was a long process but we got there in the end and now we’re making quite nice ones. The girls also painted a peg doll and a plaster figure, which was their Disney task for the day. We then all had dinner and relaxed for the evening. I went for a bath and then afterwards Chris went. While he was having a bath I went upstairs to read and eventually he joined me, bringing me a cup of tea. We lay mostly in silence for an hour – me reading and him playing on his phone. It was really nice and in the end we just headed to bed afterwards.

Sunday morning we got up and Megan wanted to make more bows. We were a lot better at it this time, finding it quicker and easier to accomplish what we were trying to do. Sadly I had a really bad headache that didn’t shift all day so I know my patience wasn’t the best. We had a fairly early lunch as we knew we were heading out to the cinema later. We left about 2pm and drove to my mum’s, swapping cars and traveling with her into Lincoln. When we got to the cinema the queue for the popcorn was huge and so even though we’d planned it, we had to skip food and drink – heading straight into the movie. We watched “Into the Woods” and it was great. It’s been really nice seeing two very current movies (Big Hero 6 last week) just as they’ve come out. Afterwards, since everyone was pretty hungry, mum drove us to Burger King. Chris and I went in to get everyone food but we drove back to mum’s before eating it. After we’d eaten, Chris hung up a picture for mum which she’d asked him to do and then we all headed home. It was Lily’s bedtime and Megan decided to go at the same time and play on her iPad for half an hour. Once they were in bed I sorted out some jewellery stuff ready to photograph the next day, but ultimately found myself restless. In the end I suggested to Chris that we head upstairs to read and relax again, which we did, and I’m pleased to say I only have about another 100 pages of my book left before I’ll reach the end!

So that was my week and while it was tiring, it was also quite good for a first week. Since I want to get some training in at the school office, I went in to sort out the forms for disclosure, but also worked on jewellery and hair bows for adding to my Etsy store. While I’d hoped to get on with making clothes, that sadly didn’t happen. I did however ring the Tax Credits people and sort out my claim which hopefully will get sorted in a few weeks. Finally, while I didn’t start off the week great, I managed to live a fairly healthy lifestyle for the majority of the week. This paid off on Weigh-In day, when I’d lost 2lbs (though this was over the whole Christmas period as well). I’m pleased with how life is going so far and I have high expectations for the future. Hopefully its onwards and upwards!