So Easter came and went and my waistline survived relatively unscathed. I think the fact that I have pretty much stopped drinking alcohol helps. Of course, the fact that I have merely switched the alcohol for junk food doesn’t. Sinusitis, a fairly gruesome chesty cough, tiredness, busyness and general laziness mean my fledgling exercise schedule has taken a hit. I struggle to believe that I used to have such an intense training regime when I find it hard to motivate myself to stay in the gym for more than 30 minutes these days. But I have discovered decongestants, accepted that sleep is unlikely, tried to become more organised in my busyness (including finally unpacking. More or less.), and given myself a good old kick up the butt. These things, accompanied by the extra hours of light which seem to have suddenly (and gladly) appeared in the day, will hopefully aide my cause.
Easter was largely a family affair, with visits from the brothers and their families. Fact: children are exhausting. I finished the long weekend by falling asleep straight after breakfast on Monday. The nephews are, as ever, delightful and it was good to have the family together as it really doesn’t happen very often. When it stopped raining, we made it out onto the beach. I got a little prolific with the photos as my new obsession with the hipstamatic app for the iPhone overruled all ordinary productiveness for the weekend. That, and playing bejewelled2. But that’s another story, and entirely my brother Chris’ fault.
Spring has sprung. Well, kind of. The daffs are out, the leaves are starting to bud, and it’s staying lighter for longer. It’s still cold, but weirdly that’s okay. Did Australia do something funny to my blood? I no longer seem to be the cold-blooded creature in constant need of a heat source that left the UK 13 months ago. The schools are finally on holiday, so I have been basking in the bliss of no traffic queues for a few weeks. And suddenly everything looks peachy. Or at least it will do when I get rid of this cough.
Gladly, Network Rail called off the impending rail strike that threatened to ruin my trip to Aberdeen and I took my sniffly self up for a weekend with the girls from Vancouver. The sun came out and we spent a day walking along the beach, having what was very nearly a vomitous trip on the galleon at the fun fair (was there really a time when that was actually fun? Judging by the small girl opposite us, perhaps not), eating fish and chips, and ice cream, and maybe just a little beer/wine consumption. Great fun and fantastic to see the girls again, but long train journeys, and I’m pretty glad to be in Newcastle for a couple of weekends now.
