Well the children survived their first week back and school and are half way through week 2 already.  I had a job interview last week which went quite well but I still haven't heard either way if I have the job or not which surprises me.  I felt sure I would have found out by now. 

Last Thursday Nick & I went to the R & A for dinner which was a super evening, the food was delicious, the company was good and it's not often ladies are allowed in the R&A so I felt very privileged to be there.  On Friday night I had another shift at the Byre Theatre and got to watch the first half of the Joyce Grenfell show which was actually quite funny.  Back again this Friday for MacFloyd (a Scottish Pink Floyd appreciation band) so quite a different audience I should think. 

On Sunday we went out for a walk along part of the Fife Coastal Walk as it was a nice day and we had nothing else planned.  We finished up in Crail in time for a pub lunch before coming home to mow the lawn and potter about.

Nick was away in Coningsby last week from Tuesday to Thursday so he wasn't here for my birthday.  I had a pretty crap day actually, the weather was miserable and we just moped around the house.  I did get some lovely cards though, I even got my card from Angela on time which went some way to cheering me up (she is frequently late).  Anyway, the kids ate pizza and I ended up having a pot noodle for my birthday dinner for the second year running.  Must try harder next year.  We did have a yummy cake though, courtesy of M&S. 
We had an uneventful weekend and now it's Monday again and school goes back tomorrow. Yay.

Nick & Tom took the opportunity to go on a hill walk up Ben Cleuch on the Friday 29th while Lily and I took the slightly less energetic option of staying at home and baking cakes.

 Then all too soon it was Monday and Nick was back at work, while he had a fairly busy and hectic week, the children and I have had a fairly laid back, leisurely one.  They have been out playing down the Lade Braes with friends most of the week and I have just been hanging around the house ready with food and clean clothing as required. 
Mum & Dad came through on Saturday to allow Nick and I to go to the Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo.  It was a fab night.  We got picked up and driven through to Edinburgh where we helped host dinner for some guests of RAF Leuchars before getting a police escort to the castle esplanade for the show.  We were thankfully in the Royal Box (complete with blankets and a roof) which was great as it was pouring with rain the whole time.  The rest of the audience were all wearing ponchos while we sat in the box in our finery staying nice and dry. It was a very late night though, we eventually got home and into bed at 3am.

Needless to say, Sunday was spent lounging around and napping.

 Well, we are back from our summer holiday and I have managed to get out running a few times.  The week before we left I got up and out at 6am 3 times.  Tom , Lily & I managed a trip to the beach but for once it was the children who decided it was too cold and wanted to come home after an hour much to my delight as I too was frozen and I was wearing clothes and not in the water unlike T & L.  We had a visit from more Americans but this time it was family and just for the day.

Tom, Andrew, Grace & Lily

 On Saturday we drove through to mum & dad's for the night before setting off down south on Sunday morning.  We had a night in a guest house before arriving at our cottage in Herefordshire on Monday.  We spent Sunday and Monday morning in and around Worcester looking in estate agents and  schools then on Tuesday we looked around Ledbury and Hereford - both of which are very beautiful towns. 


lily riding Misty

The cottage we stayed in was Darren Mill Cottage and was lovely, the daughter of the owners had a pony called Misty and let Lily ride him which she loved. 

View of our cottage

On Friday we left the cottage and drove to Wiltshire for a quick visit with Helen who has just got back from the Falkland Islands - we hadn't seen each other since before we left for America so it was lovely to catch up with each other and the children could remember each other too so after a bite of lunch they went off to the play park for an hour or so before we got back in the car to head off towards Bournemouth to see John and the boys. 

Tom & Nathan constructing a pond

We had a lovely meal out with John on Friday and then on Saturday we went to Lisa's for the morning and to collect Nathan (unfortunately Conor had a party to attend so couldn't come with us).  We arrived at John's to discover the start of a pond being built so needless to say as soon as Nathan and Tom saw the hole they wanted to build the pond.  We ended up just staying at the house and the boys had a great time playing in the mud pool.  Lily even joined in eventually.  After a chinese takeaway for dinner we took Nathan home and had another game of cricket in the back garden with Conor.  This time using the cricket ball instead of the tennis ball ...  this led to Nick giving Conor a shiner and Nathan a fat lip.  Not good, back to tennis balls in future I think.  All too soon it was Sunday and we were on the move again, this time up to Somerset to visit with Nick's mum & dad.  They are in the middle of an ambitious extension so Tom got to help lay a couple of bricks, sleep in a hammock in the garden with his cousin Benaiah and generally lark around for a couple of days.  Lily had great fun in  the garden with Tallulah & Elsie and everyone adored little Gladys.  The girls all picked cherries from the garden and Nana should have made some jam by now. 

Tom & Grampy building the house

 We drove back up North as far as my mum & dad's again on Tuesday and as it was a gorgeous day were able to enjoy a delicious bbq with them at the picnic table (no umbrellas in sight this time).  Then we were up early on Wednesday and home by about 10am.  I went out for a quick run and then as Nick is still on holiday until Monday we decided to go out for lunch and then go on to see Harry Potter at the cinema.  What a brilliant film, definitely the best of the lot.

 Well, after my brilliant 6am start last Monday there has been no running since.  No excuses other than laziness I'm afraid.  On Tuesday last week Nick and I got dressed up in our finery and went off to Edinburgh to have a cup of tea with the Queen....and a few thousand other people.  We had a lovely time and the weather stayed kind to us whilst we enjoyed our cucumber sandwiches, salmon blinis and delightful petit fours.  The one downside was that we were not allowed to take any photographs so it will just be a memory for us and  not one we can share with you. 

The rest of the week was spent doing very little until Friday when I found myself back at Ninewells Hospital....thankfully not for me this time though, Nick had been having a 'sports day' at work when I got a call around 4pm to say he had hurt himself (no drama - not badly) and could I go and collect him from the hospital.  Turns out he had been playing dodgeball - badly I assume -  and had dislocated his pinkie so had to go for xrays and to have it put back in its correct position.   

On Saturday Lily was very excited as Emily was arriving with her mum and aunt, their flight was delayed due to bad weather in the US so they finally got to us around 4pm and it was like the two girls had never been apart.  Very sweet.

Colleen, Emily and Wanda

On Sunday we had a sightseeing tour of St Andrews and then went out to Zizzi's for a delicious dinner before walking home via the Lade Braes.
All too soon it was Monday and Nick was back to work and Colleen, Emily and Wanda said their goodbyes and set off on a whirlwind tour of the UK.  The beds are stripped yet again but there's no rush to make them up again just yet.  Tom, Lily and I are having a restful day and then will host our Texan cousins tomorrow for the day.

Well I have finally had my final blood test and my results showed my hcg levels back down to 1 so that's good news. It's funny to think I could have been sitting here nearly 14 weeks pregnant.
Scary thought.
I managed out running 3 times last week and whilst I'm not going to be winning any races anytime soon at least I am back out there.
Nick was down at Waddington from Friday until Sunday evening for the Waddington Airshow and Tom & Lily finished school for summer on Friday.
We had a fairly relaxed Saturday and spent Sunday at the beach with Angela, Amber & Daisy. It was a glorious day, the beach was very busy and we all had a great day out, unfortunately it was spoiled slightly for Ang & Amber by getting sunburnt. Ouch.
So today is the first official day of the school holidays - no making of packed lunches for me, thank goodness. Instead I got up extra early, 6am, and went for a run before Nick went off to work. A good start, hopefully I can keep it up throughout the summer.

On TuesdayI went back to Ninewells for my final blood test but alas my hormone levels had still not returned to below 5 and were at 20 so I have to go back again this Wednesday which will be exactly 7 weeks after my operation so fingers crossed it will be my final visit this time round.
On Wednesday Craig, Bernice and Christopher arrived for their visit and luckily the weather stayed kind for them too. Craig & Nick managed a round of golf on Thursday while Bernice, Christopher and I mooched around town doing the sights (again!) Then we met up with the boys for lunch.
On Friday the Stallards left around 8am to go north for a bit of a tour around Scotland and I'm pleased to say it looks like the weather has held for them. I was in school all morning helping out with the cycling proficiency test and then came home in time for lunch and a relax on the couch for the rest of the day.
I did a bit of gardening on Saturday (which was long overdue - we have the untidiest garden in the street - but then we are one of the few houses without a gardener!) while Nick was in work overseeing stuff about the Armed Forces Day and then today we went out for lunch since it was our anniversary and we had a £25 voucher for The Rule which I had won at the school fair a couple of weeks ago.

I'm all caught up with the washing and the beds are all made up for our next set of guests, who thankfully don't arrive for a couple of weeks so I have time to fully recharge before it starts all over again.