A Mother's Ramblings

A few nights back, Dan Jon's blood sugars decided to have a little party. They couldn't decide if they were up or down, and when they went down, for some unknown reason they decided to stay down for extended periods of time, meaning every thirty minutes or so I was woken up by the Klaxon on my phone alerting me to the fact that Dan Jon's blood sugars had dropped. I would trundle to his bedroom, still half asleep, to test his blood sugars whilst he, and the rest of the house, slept contentedly through the beeps of our phones. By three am, I was very sleepy and whilst I wasn't jealous of Dan Jon's ability to sleep through the prodding and beeping, I was starting to resent that I wasn't in my bed sleeping soundly. Then around 4:30am, whilst I was waiting for Dan Jon to chew up some quick release sugar tablets, I realised that through the crack in his curtains I could see the start of a beautiful sunrise.

We're almost at the end of the month, and I don't know about you but I think it has been one of the nicest Mays I remember. It's not just been the weather or even the extra family time. For me, it's been a month of discovery both of skills, (I've done some great artwork) new hobbies (Gardening) and leg muscles. I have some seriously great calves at the moment thanks to the two-mile daily walks Flyfour and I have been going on! Anyway, here's what we're eating this week!

As I was slaving away in the garden, weeding one of the raised beds on the lawn a curious thought popped into my head that gardeners are A a bit sadistic, B Part of some kind of Cult. Start gardening Pippa, you'll enjoy it Pippa, you'll get out in the fresh air and get some exercise Pippa. Join us Pippa.

During the week I spoke with a friend who had a few days off work and was planning an indulgent staycation. We ended up chatting about small things that people can do to make a few days off into something special, something to look forward to, to think back on fondly and to make the most of the space they are in. We talked about putting clean sheets on the bed, and clearing off the nightstand and even the pile of clothing from the floor and just making the bedroom a sanctuary, somewhere to relax and be peaceful. We talked about lighting candles and favourite scents and even breaking out the "good" PJ's, you know the ones I mean!  We talked about long luxurious baths and watching and rewatching favourite TV Shows and films and eating popcorn and snacks or maybe going to bed early and relaxing and reading until the small hours and then sleeping in the next morning until they were ready to get up. We talked about eating ice cream before a meal, or maybe even instead of a mea...

Whilst we were out for our regular nightly walk around our neighbourhood, I had the sudden realisation that I'm the sidekick in a lot of peoples stories and blurted out to the family.  "I'm the sidekick!" They, obviously, looked at me slightly confused because they had been having a discussion about something that was nothing to do with sidekicks, so I started explaining my train of thought. I told them that I'd been thinking about some things that had happened over the last few weeks, which got me thinking to things over the last few years and almost everything I have done has been to help others.

Before a recent Ward Council (held online) I had been asked to share the Spiritual Thought for the meeting and as usual, despite thinking on it for several hours, I had nothing to share. I bemoaned to Flyfour that I'd been asked and couldn't think of anything suitable to share. I didn't want to share banal platitudes, I didn't want to share a recent Spiritual experience I'd had as it was too personal and well, my recent Scripture readings hadn't given me any great insight into anything. Or so I thought.

It's almost the end of May, and I don't know about you but I feel that this month went very fast! I don't mind, as we've had some lovely weather (and I've been able to enjoy it as I've only been working part-time) and for us personally we've had a fair bit of celebration too, so it's always nice to have that to remember back on. So what are we eating?!

I swear that everything is speeding up these days, I don't know if it is because all the days seem the same in lockdown, or if it is because of my age, or even if it is because the world really is speeding up. All I do know is that I don't actually mind that much, but if the world could slow down a little, it might allow me to catch up with some housework! Well, whilst the world is hopefully going a little slower this weekend, here is what we are eating!

Dan Jon Jr turned 12 today and thanks to the lockdown and us not having spent as much money on takeaways, snacks, last-minute top-up shops and the like, we had a bit of spare cash and finding a bargain of a deal Dan Jon got a very expensive Birthday gift of an Oculus Quest. Luckily Dan Jon is fully aware that this is a one-off and that he won't be getting anything that expensive again (as a side note, it's made Flyfour and I look very carefully at how much we spend on snacks!) and is also very pleased that he is able to share it with the family a little too. I mean even I've had a go, it's very clever but I'm not sure I'll be spending a lot of time in a VR world! Dan Jon is honestly so fantastic.

I may have accidentally written this menu plan, whilst watching half a season of Community on Netflix. Okay, so it wasn't an accident, but it did mean that this blog post took me AGES to write and I may have been laughing like a drain the entire time and also I'm not sure what meals I planned so I'm just hoping that I've written the extra ingredients down on my Whatsapp notes properly or I've got some surprises this week when I do try to make the meals we have planned!

It's May already! I almost can't believe it, but today is my birthday and heck yeah it's going to be a good year. I think that I'm rather lucky to be experiencing a birthday in lockdown, as it means I'm safe, my family are safe and what a great meal out we'll be having when we can get together! Plus, and this is deadly serious, how many times would you pay for being told to stay at home on your birthday? To not spend unnecessary money, to not have people spend unnecessary money on you? To not overeat or in some cases overdrink, to be with the people you love (if you're lucky enough to be in lockdown with them that is) doing some of the things that you love and being able to spend time and plan? I think I'd do that every year if I could.