Enjoying walkies time with Petunia

I don't really think I've anything much to write about this morning dear reader but bear with me because I'll ramble a little anyway, life has been trundling onwards for a few weeks now and we've definite new routines which may not work for other people but we've kind of relaxed into them.  I've always hated mornings but now I find myself sitting here on the Settee blogging at 5 or 6am every morning, my dog loves early mornings and although I can't say I'm a huge fan I have kind of settled into them.

When we get to about 7.15 I'll shout for the girls to get up although Looby who is also a morning person is sometimes up, dressed and half way to being ready by then!

Paul comes for coffee every morning and we all sit/stand around the kitchen chatting about yesterday/the day to come or what's going on in various schedules and how we're going to manage that and then at 8.15 everyone leaves for the day and I make my 145th coffee of the day!

Yesterday Looby had an amazing day for her birthday and we all went out as a family last night for birthday fish and chips at Amble which was lovely.

This weekend I'm looking forward to a lie in tomorrow and Saturday when the girls and Petunia are staying with their dad, tomorrow I have a wedding in the afternoon and then I am going out with a friend and on Sunday I'm taking Looby, 4 friends and one of my very best friends in the whole world Li and her daughter all out for Loobys official birthday luncheon, oh yes we're very sophisticated now she's a young lady of 11, no soft play for her (thank goodness).

I've just noticed this morning that in the news they're talking about people signing pre-nups about pets, I just want to say this.... If you are grown ups you'll find it's just as easy to co-parent a dog as it is to co-parent your children.

You never know what's around the corner, some corners are a lot harder to see around or they just hide the path to the future more than others but all relationships with friendship at the base of them have a chance of survival because friendship is such a powerful bond.

I'd say this week for me has been a pretty good week, I've certainly taken on lots of new lovely work, I made my life plan, I've cuddled my children and my dog a lot and I've enjoyed the beginning of Autumn and embraced the future which as far as I can see is about turning negatives to positives and always remembering that no matter what happens you can never change the past, all you can do is reassess and move onwards using the knowledge of past events to guide you through the future.

So dear reader, go out there this weekend, kick those leaves or catch them as they tumble from the trees, take out your cameras and embrace the parks and nature that surrounds you and say a quiet thank you for all that is good to the universe and always remember that life doesn't have to be perfect to be lovely.

Unexpected moments of loneliness

For many years dear reader Saturday nights have seemed to offer the same routine, a house full of family, usually just the girls, Iain, Paul and I but I loved it, we didn't do anything special, sometimes we weren't even in the same room as each other but there's a comfort in knowing you're all together in the same place on a Saturday evening.

Don't get me wrong, Last night Iain and Abigail were here and I love my children very much but it's not quite the same as having the person there who you feel you've spent your entire life with, the one who knows the little inside jokes you've built up over so many years, the one who even when they irritate and annoy can still make you laugh.

I know I'll get used to this strange new routine, I have made plans with friends for lots of the alternate weekends when I'll be completely on my own and there's a definite solace in great friendships.  I also think that it's easy to fall into a yearning in those first few days and weeks on your own, your mind can play tricks and I simply have to remind myself that everything happens for a reason and that it's taken me 40 years of my life to finally learn that love is not enough, 2 disparate people with completely different core values cannot conquer everything just because they love each other, unfortunately I don't think love does conquer all, if it did I wouldn't be in this situation.

I think it's going to take a while to get my groove back and get used to not being able to randomly tell someone my inner thoughts or offer a mind dump at any given moment by text message.

Yesterday I bought a new book called 102 Free Things To Do: Inspiring Ideas for a Better Life it's my latest dose of positivity and it contains some truly wonderful suggestions about little ways to make life fuller, better and more fulfilling all for free, if you're at a poignant crossroads in your life or even if you simply want to add a little value which doesn't cost anything why not give it a read, you might just find something you can use to make your life even better.

Today, I'm going to write a list, you can join in too dear reader, just pop that list on paper or in the notes section of your phone or your laptop or anything really and now think about 5 things which you love about your life right now, even if you are having a truly awful time reach inside and find just 5 small things which can still make you smile and then at the dark corners of the day you can remind yourself that no matter how turbulent life's journey becomes you will always have something you can focus on to change your thinking back into a more positive state.  I've always believed in my heart that what you give out comes back so negativity isn't going to breed anything other than negativity but with a smile in your heart, well you just never know what lies ahead just around the corner.