Wednesday 15 July 2009

Holdiay Mode

How can another school year have gone so fast? We are now in the closing stages of the final act of daughter #2's time at primary school; she has run her last race at sports day, taken part in her last play (Grease, last week-- but a specially abridged school version which doesn't involve Rizzo thinking she's up the duff and has removed the word 'virginity' from the Sandra Dee song etc) and all that remains is the heart-wrenching ordeal of the Leavers Assembly (waterproof mascara essential) next Monday.

In the meantime, having said goodbye to Luis the playboy prince I am all set to enjoy a few days of child-free downtime recovering from this latest deadline frenzy and gathering my strength for a full return to maternal duty when the holidays start. I had planned to languish in the garden making inroads into my TBR pile, but summer (which was in full blazing, swooning glory while I was cowering and whimpering over the computer) has now vanished again. This is most unfortunate. Why is it that lying in the sunshiny garden reading in the middle of the day seems wholesome and lovely, but lying on the sofa doing the same thing feels shockingly sluttish and a short step away from drinking vodka in the afternoons and not bothering to get dressed? (Both of which I may possibly resort to as the summer holidays progress...) Suspect the answer may have something to do with the fact that from the sofa there would be no avoiding the Miss Havisham-like dust and grime. It would also place me in perilous proximity to the toaster at a time when I am trying to ease up on my carb addiction and my three-pieces-of-toast-and-honey-a-day habit, so is probably best avoided.

So, that leaves me with something of a dilemma as to how to spend these three days of freedom. The car is in the garage, awaiting the arrival of a part that will stop it belching out black, noxious-smelling smoke, so that rules out the possibility of venturing out shopping (which is actually a relief. I fantasize about shops full of lovely things when I'm shut in my office wearing jeans and oddly-shaped, shrunken t-shirts, but find the reality of traipsing round and trying things on unutterably depressing. Think this is all tied in somehow with the toast and honey etc.) Absence of car also makes it difficult to get out and see friends, many of whom have probably forgotten who I am after 6 months of pretty constant deadline reclusiveness.

Oh dear-- think it's all pointing to one thing. Unless anyone can suggest anything else, I'm going to spend the day cleaning the kitchen, aren't I?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi India

We haven't spoken in ages, how are you?

The only answer to your question that I can possibly think of, is to simply chill with lovely glass of chardonnay, and get stuck in to your TBR pile. Forget everything else, life is too short, to be worrying about cleaning and dusting. Just enjoy the great book's we have in our family of Modern romances, and let them tranport them to you to all the exotic places you have never visited. That's how I intend to spend the summer, apart from working full time of course.

xx Karen

Michelle Styles said...

Congrats on turning your lovely prince in.
I remain under the deadline kosh.
Suggest do token cleaning and then retire hurt to your TBR.
Summer is glorious in Northumberland. Has only been raining at night, days full of sunshine.

Rachel said...

Dear India,

PLEASE don't spend the day cleaning the kitchen! (Cue pathetic whimpering sounds)Guilt will drive me to start picking up all those bits of broken spaghetti and lego too.

My thoughts on the dilemma: reading time is now strictly limited and they'll all be off soon trashing the place, so an excess of housework is pointless. You will be sorry if you don't spoil yourself now, believe me!

It's sports day and samba for mine this afternoon, so I'm sneaking off for a quick read right now(must not forget to put shopping in fridge first!)

Have three borlotti beans so far!

Lots of love,

Rach.
XXX

Unknown said...

Karen-- hello! You're right, it's been a while-- how are you? I love your suggestion for how to spend this downtime, and it will definitely make me feel a lot less guilty about doing absolutely nothing but reading. I wish the sun would come back though!

Sorry you're still in the shadow of deadline, Michelle but hope the book is coming along nicely. I'm so excited about Northumbria and have decided it doesn't matter about the weather, but of course I'm secretly hoping for a mini heatwave. An absence of snow will suffice though!

Ooh Rach-- kill the fatted Borlotti bean and celebrate the arrival of the summer holidays! I quite agree about the pointlessness of housework ahead of the tidal wave of PE kit, artwork, oddly shaped ceramic items and letters about next term's activities... Shall retire to sofa with book. (Sports day AND samba?? Darling, how cosmopolitan! Nothing so exotic here in Cheshire-- we still haven't progressed beyond maypole dancing. Sigh.)