PuddleduckLane: Back to the daily grind.

Spring school hols have come to an end and it was back to the daily grind again this morning. Not that I'm complaining. The daily grind is mostly quite enjoyable. It's just a shift in gears from fairly organised to organised. Oh, and hello Daylight Saving! I'm liking you now with your extra hour of backyard play after dinner but it's a love/hate relationship and I will surely loathe you when we turn our clocks back at the end of Summer and the Jackman stubbornly refuses to read the memo. I will be shaking my fist and cursing the 5am wake up calls that the switch inevitably induces.

We followed up our jam packed last week of hols with a jam packed weekend in the great outdoors. Saturday was a slow start after our big week but we eventually got going and headed to nearby Molonglo Gorge for a two hour hike & bbq lunch. It was a beautiful walk and it felt good to really push my body to do the first kind of decent exercise since surgery. We were pretty tired by the end but it was so worth it. Am so glad the Husband suggested it. Well done Husband, you're good like that!

Saturday night I left my three at home and met my friend Rach for dinner. It was the first time we'd caught up sans kids and it was a novel experience. Imagine not losing the thrust of the conversation every two minutes. Brilliant! We chatted over dumplings and Peking duck pancakes at Dumpling House, then moved on to coffees and death by chocolate desserts at San Churro.

Sunday was a big day in the garden. I started weeding with the best of intentions but my hayfever had other plans. After an hour I admitted defeat and let the Husband carry on while I hid inside with my magazines and antihistamines.

Monday's public holiday had us out at Cotter Dam for a beautiful morning with Rach and her kids. The boys made fishing poles out of sticks and we feasted on fresh berries and coffee for morning tea.

Last night a storm rolled in. It woke me in the early hours. I love waking to the rumble of thunder and flicker of lightening...that growl of growing discontent in the sky. I love being the only one in the house awake, watching the pre-dawn light show then lulling back to sleep to the sound of rain drumming steadily on the roof, knowing that the new day will dawn shiny and freshly laundered by the rain.

To celebrate the first day of term 4 the Jackman and I headed to the National Arboretum after school drop off for coffee and a play in the sunshine. Jack finally mastered his fear of the curly slide in the Pod Playground and spent almost an hour climbing up into the giant Acorn and sliding down again with a big fat grin of self satisfied pride on his face.