Tuesday 15-05-19 Tunisian Holiday I

So we went to Tunisia on holiday at the beginning of May. It was TW's idea, she realised that since the bank holiday and the General Election coincided in the same week, we could take the girls out of school and only miss eight sessions. At the moment, there is a bizarre scheme in place in our local education system where if you take your children out of school for more than five days without authorisation, you get fined. And of course, "holiday" is not a good enough reason to obtain approval. So we did tell them in advance that we were going to take the children out of school, and the school marked it as "unauthorised absence". TW had searched the internet thoroughly and found a holiday through Sunmasters, which came in at just over £1,000, which wasn't bad for the five of us. I'm sure that it would be at least double that during the school holidays. We were flying Monarch and staying at a hotel in Monastir called the Delphin Ribat. TW chose not to book any luggage into the hold during the flight, so we were restricted to 10kg each of hand luggage. Actually none of us packed more than 7kg, and that was with the children taking a cuddly toy each. Working to that limit really concentrates the mind, and we don't normally max out our luggage anyway - we normally pack the 23kg to book into the hold and travel light in the cabin. So I packed one pair of trousers, one pair of shorts, trunks, two short-sleeved shirts and a t-shirt and obviously had what I was wearing; trousers, a long-sleeved top and a jumper, and sandals. I chose to travel in sandals and was planning to wear them for the week, but unfortunately I developed a blister and had to switch to my back-up sandals after a couple of days.Anyway, we got to Gatwick in good time, this was to be the girls' first overseas holiday and TW wanted to make the most of the experience with them, so that meant immersing ourselves in Duty Free and generally having a good look around the airport. We booked the car into "Summer Special" car parking, with a special deal which meant it was only £40 for the week, which was cheaper than the train tickets would have been, and it was so straightforward - we booked online, they told us to turn up after a certain time, we left the keys with them and then jumped on the shuttle bus to the North terminal. It was really simple, and it's certainly a service we'll use in the future. We had a go on the inter-terminal shuttle train to get to the South Terminal, which I think they enjoyed; actually they enjoyed the whole thing. Then we checked in, and they told us that since the flight was busy, we could check in our luggage free of charge, if we so chose. Result! That saved us about £200, not that we needed to check it in, but it meant that we could wander the airport unencumbered by luggage which was threatening to kneecap or seriously disable unsuspecting members of the public. So of course we agreed, and then we skipped joyfully to the security checkpoint. It was there that we hit our first hurdle; although we took all our metallic items (coins, rings, phones, etc.) out of our pockets, our middle child pinged as she went through the scanners. She had to go into one of the new-fangled complete body scanners to be scanned in more depth. I think it was due to the sequins on her top, but she looked very worried as she went into the "scanning chamber" - she'll probably never wear that top again :). We had a look around airside, and went for lunch at Frankie and Benny's; I have to say it was great value, and maybe the kids enjoyed it more than Pizza Express. The portions were large, and the drinks were refillable, which is the main concern for our children, at least. I had the Full English breakfast which was delicious; the bacon was a bit dry but apart from that, it was a full plate of deliciousness. We had to stock up on sun tan lotion because we thought we were taking hand luggage only, and so we hadn't packed large bottles of sun tan lotion; TW went to Boots and picked up some of their own-brand stuff, which came with after sun too. And then it was time to fly. It was amazing how the time sped by, and suddenly we were in the air. More to come next time...

Thursday 15-04-30 Meh.

Meh.

So last night I got on the scales and weighed myself, and I'm up to 14 stone 10 lbs. That was fully dressed, but even this morning when I was wandering around my domain, lording it up naked, I still weighed in at 14 st 3 lbs.
No wonder I've been so lethargic recently. Life, it seems, has all been a bit "meh", and really it shouldn't be like that. I have a lovely lively wife and three beautiful girls, and I wasn't taking pleasure in any of them.
This week I've not been drinking, I thought that might help, and perhaps it has, but I think that when we get back from holiday I am going to have to take some serious action. I'm talking about running again, and keeping it up this time. I may even start going to the gym, I'm not sure if TW can still get me half-price membership, I'll have to check. I was looking in the mirror yesterday morning and I know I have a belly, right, there is no way I can be three stone overweight and not have a belly. But I noticed that I now have saddlebags too, above my hips and to the back? That's a new development I've not noticed before. So that's kind of like a call to action.
The trouble is that we go on holiday tomorrow, for a week, and so I'm not sure what state I'll come back in. Should I take an ascetic approach on holiday and live like a monk, watching my calories and limiting my booze intake? Or should I forget it all and pick it up when I come back? At which stage it'll be harder to achieve my aims, or it will take longer, at least.
Well, looking at that, it seems that I have answered my own question, and I have been thinking that I would limit my booze intake anyway, since the children will be with us. It seems like I shall probably do a lot of reading. Hopefully the children will be occupied with activity clubs, and TW & I can get some time to relax.

Away

So, last weekend we went away.

It was only a short trip, in both time and distance, to stay with the MiL and her man. But we went on Friday and came back on Tuesday, and during that time I completely relaxed and forgot about work.

On the Saturday we went for a walk in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, and despite the distance we walked, The Brood did remarkably well. I had The Youngest on my shoulders for a while on the way home, and they whinged a bit, but they made it. Well done...

On Sunday we had friends and their parents over for lunch. The friends have recently become parents, and their daughter was a delight.

Unfortunately, at the end of the day, I suffered from a bit of food poisoning.  I was a bit concerned I had overdone it on the wine, but looking back now it was obviously something different. Anyway, I spent the evening in bed and missed the Olympics Closing Ceremony.

On Monday TW & I went into Oxford by ourselves; the MiL looked after The Brood. I was still weak from vomiting and lack of food, but appreciated the relative peace and quiet. I managed to rebuild my strength with a McDonalds burger and fries, which was a surprise, but it worked.

Tuesday morning TW and the MiL went into Witney with The Brood, and I creamed The Girl Who Played With Fire. I've finished it now, it's a good book, and I've started with the third in the series, I hope to finish it in the next couple of days.

Any way, it was a good rest. I've been on light duties at work this week, or at least it's felt like that. But things are good.

TTFN.

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