Easter 2025

It has been quite a while since I’ve written one of these updates. Life lately has just got in the way and although this blog is still ticking along in the background, it needed some TLC. I’ve given the theme a refresh and moved some posts around so they’re more accessible and although it might not look like it, it took me the best part of 7 hours to get to where they are now!

Anyway, I digress..

Life lately. How are we all?

We are all doing well. Shilts is doing well and managing his ailments well. Poor bloke was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes a few years back which really knocked him for six when he caught Covid back in 2021. He still suffers with a form of long covid, the nerves in his hands and feet really play him up but he’s coping as best as he can.

The boys are good and loving life. Olly is in the first year of secondary school and absolutely loves it. He’s made a really good group of friends and is loving his subjects. The transition from primary to secondary is quite frankly alarming as he’s much more confident now and happy to get stuck in to pretty much anything. He’s still playing cricket, loving Minecraft on the Xbox and creating short form videos for his YouTube channel.

Freddie is in Year 2 of primary school and doing really well. We’ve recently had Parents Evening at school and his teacher couldn’t fault him at all. She said he’s such a wonderful little boy, he’s got a loyal group of friends, he loves sports and is a joy to teach! Freddie is enjoying cricket and will be joining All Stars again this year. Freddie is very active and loves being outside on his bike, scooter or playing with a ball. We’re very lucky with him and his big brother, they’re brilliant boys and just get on well with everyone!

What about me?

I’m good. I’m enjoying my job and the challenges it’s giving me. It’s definitely stripped some of the work life balance away from me over the last year but that’s something I’m working on improving moving forward. I’m enjoying life outside of work too, we’ve just spent a week over Easter at my parents caravan in Lincolnshire. We enjoyed lazier mornings and picky plate dinners, plenty of fresh air and watching the Eurofighter Typhoons take off and land from their RAF Coningsby base. We’re very lucky to be able to spend time here and very grateful to my parents for letting us do so.

I really need to work on two things this year. My confidence and my fitness. I am over weight, I’ve always been overweight but as my age creeps up, I’m finding it harder to shake the weight. I’ve increased my supplements and I’m trying to be more mindful about the things I eat and drink (although I absolutely did have an Easter egg or two this week, it’s all about balance!). I’m going to look into aqua aerobics and dance fit remote classes and see how I can squeeze them into the routine. I don’t feel very positive about my body currently and it’s definitely affected my confidence. I feel in a rut with my choice of clothing for work and it’s hugely depressing looking for decent plus sized clothes in the shops. We don’t just want to wear shapeless dresses and leggings! Change is definitely ahead.

At home

We’re loving life at home. We had our garage conversion finished last year into a boys sports room with the pantry complementing the utility and kitchen. We’re really lucky with the space and both rooms are fantastic and get used daily. We need to finish off some DIY with painting here and there and I want to renovate the walk-in wardrobe (spare bedroom) and my office at some point too!

I took on a little project in the New Year to add panelling to one of our bedroom walls. Freddie and I worked on it together and we are so pleased with the results. It’s made the room look quite stylish and it just looks really good.

We are still working on plans for the back garden, We think it’ll need more money that we have available over the next few years so we’re working on plan C for now which is to just keep the plants at bay for now and invest in a pressure washer to tidy up the slabs. We would love a pergola, some festoon lights and some nice new garden furniture out there but again it all depends on what spare money we have available.

Future plans

We don’t have any major plans for the next six months, we’re trying to save as much money as we can whilst still enjoying life. We know first hand how fragile life is so we’re trying to enjoy it and spend quality time with family and friends when we can, doing the things we love and make sensible decisions along the way!