Dogs, kids and all that time…

Sorry I’m late! I’m not usually late, but my new disorganised existence seems to be making me sloppy….and late!  You see I am a highly organised person, it says so on my CV!  I’ve needed to be, us women just do, don’t we?  Kids, house, job, dogs we do it all (ok so our significant others sometimes help out a bit ;-))! In just 3 short months out of the game my mind has turned to mush and I’m late!  Phoebe went to school with no plimsoles today for the second week in a row because I forgot to buy her new ones – that’s never happened before.  I’m not moaning and I’m still so happy I made the decision to leave my job, but I thought I’d have lots of time!  I’ve lost count of the amount of times in the past I’ve said – ‘when I give-up work I’ll have time to do this’. I was supposed to have time, but instead…I’m late!

So what have I been doing for 3 months?

Erm…I’m not entirely sure, but here come the excuses.  I’ve still been working.  Usually 2 days a week, sometimes a bit less, sometimes a bit more, but definitely still working.   It’s good, it’s giving me time to come to terms with letting go of this job and saying my goodbyes, but it takes up time.

I’ve been cleaning up pee and poo (arrgggghhh!).  We had been thinking about getting a doggy companion for our beloved Polly for some time.  We thought she might be lonely and depressed and in need of some canine friendship.  Now I’m ‘not working’ (the inverted commas signify that I use this term loosely), it seemed like the perfect time to go ahead.  In our infinite wisdom we decided to get a puppy and so Bungo the mixed breed ball of fluff (Cavapoo to those that need the fancy name) was introduced to our home.  I’ll be honest…we did not think this through!  It would have been easier to have another baby…seriously!  I have reluctantly said goodbye to my beautiful new carpets and sweet smelling home and my hands are chapped and sore from the constant scrubbing and use of Vanish.  My Vax carpet cleaner has never been used so much and I almost hear it groan as I drag it out of the cupboard for yet another trip around my home.  Oh the time I was going to have…long lunches with friends (there have been a few of these), finishing projects I started years ago, an immaculate home that even Martha Stewart would be proud of.  Instead these things still sit on my Pinterest page, longing for me to dive in.  Puppies definitely eat up time…we love him though (I think!)

I’ve started to get used to the 4.30am wake up calls, standing in the garden in the dark, while everyone else sleeps, waiting for nature to take it’s course with Bungo.  It’s either that or wake up to the familiar smell of dog poo on my bedroom carpet.  This weekend over breakfast Andrew was trying to be supportive and suggested I might start taking a nap in the afternoons.  I very nearly spat my tea all over him!  You see as attractive as a ‘Nana nap’ might be, the problem is two fold.  Firstly, I think it would be a slippery slope into accepting old age and at just 41 I really don’t think I’m ready to accept that I need an afternoon nap just yet.  Secondly…I JUST DON’T HAVE TIME!  But now I’m ‘not working’ I no longer have work as an excuse.  My children are in school so surely I’ve got all the time in the world to clean and tidy, to shop and cook, to wash and iron.  Surely I must be able to spend time doing ‘craft’ with the children, to bake and help with homework?  So where does the time go?  The 4 days a week I used to work long hours, rush back to put the children to bed, cook a meal, clean and tidy and still have a social life…what happened to all that time?

I think I probably need to cut myself some slack, I have still been working and it took flaming hours and hours to set up this site (if you ever read that it’s easy to set up a blog then it’s all lies…it is not!!). And to be fair, catching up on 6 seasons of The Walking Dead has been very time consuming (oops!).  But in the last 3 months I think I have learnt my first important lesson on this journey.  Time is like money…you never have enough of it and you will always use most of it, no matter how much you have, with very little left to do the things you wanted to do.

Time is precious…make sure you enjoy it.

 

Nicxx