September 2023 update
Well, it’s that time when we start getting ready to head back over the pond to visit my folks. As usual, I’m super excited but think what a pain it will be to get everything ready. But, alas, the excitement and prospect of being back in Florida far outweigh the annoyance of the tasks.
The main concern is taking a small child on the plane and into the parks. It’s one of those things that we’ll have to see how things go because either Jack will be absolutely fine and stay with us, or he will try to run off every two seconds and it won’t be worth spending the money on park tickets if no one can enjoy it.
Other than the parks, we have plenty of beaches and pools to keep us entertained. Obviously visiting and having family time is the most important, so I’m looking forward to all of that. Plus, it will be my birthday when we fly out so hooray!
I sadly have been neglecting my writing and reading. I’ve kind of accepted that it’s just going to be that way for a while until I have the time and the mental capacity to get back into it. I have ideas of YA book series as always but, alas, nothing started and/or nothing completed.
Instead, I’ve been obsessing about Mia Tui bags and have realized that it’s a whole thing where people show off their items on a Facebook group and even involve themselves in drama revolving around the owner and who she invited to the warehouse. There is a whole section of bags for sale on Facebook Marketplace as well so, by all means, if anyone is interested, go have a look.
Jack was off from nursery for two weeks in August, so we kept him as busy as possible. Now I’m keeping him home on the weekends to make double sure he’s well for the trip. All three of us have had an annoying cold for a while now.
Jack’s primary school applications opened too and I have very mixed feelings on the subject. It’s tough because I have to find a school that works with our work schedules, and is somewhere that I think Jack will be happy. That means a lot of visits in the near future and I have to narrow down my top three where I’d like him to go. I’d hate for him to be away from his little friends at nursery but I just don’t know if he can even get into some of the schools or how difficult it will be for us to manage if there’s no after-school club available.
I’ve already booked Christmas events and am looking forward to all of that. I should have a nice chunk of time off work if my leave is approved, so we can keep Jack busy then with winter-time fun. We have a train ride, Disney on Ice, Santa at Beamish Christmas Evenings, Santa at Redfox Garden Centre, Northern Lights in Leazes Park, and even Breakfast with Santa at Tobey Carvery.
I even have half a day off before Thanksgiving so I can feel semi-normal and keep to my American traditions.
And with that said, I hope everyone has enjoyed their summer. I usually love autumn but I am not interested in cold weather or warm clothes wearing again. Our British summer consisted of torrential downpours most days so I am not ready to transition into another season when we didn’t have much warm weather. But I’ll be on the beach soon with my tropical drink, so it’s all good.
