Snakes and Ladders

Life this last month has been like that childhood board game, where reaching the goal depends entirely on the throw of the dice. Landing on ladders didn't help because there were too many snakes to send us right back down again. A few 'miss a go' squares would have been welcome to give us some breathing space, but time rushed by so fast it was more like 'advance three squares' when we really weren't ready for it.

Our goal in this case was a return to Mallorca, where we went for some much-needed R&R back in May. At the time of booking we were busy but life was uneventful. Then one of our clients hit a problem and Harry was drafted in as troubleshooter. That was all very well but it meant he was working all hours because he couldn't abandon the jobs he was already running. My own plans went pear-shaped when I took my mother for an ultrasound scan for a minor problem that mushroomed into something more serious, requiring four more hospital visits in a little over a week. Two days before the start of our holiday, she was admitted for a procedure under general anaesthetic and was terrified she wouldn't wake up again. We were there for a gruelling nine and a half hours. I'm taking her for an MRI scan tomorrow, with a follow-up next week. I hope that will be the end of it, for her sake. She is nearly ninety and the anxiety of not knowing the outcome is overshadowing her life.

Spending so much time with my poor mum meant that I was way behind with my work and had an important deadline hanging over me. I hadn't had time even to think about packing and didn't know how I was going to get everything done. To add to the pressure, we had a booking at an event in London the night before our departure, made long before the holiday was mooted. I could have done without it but Harry insisted we go. Somehow, we got it all together but I was still fretting when we were getting ready to leave for the airport. Harry said there was just one thing left to do and pointed upstairs. I protested we didn't have time for that, we were running late. He said he only needed five minutes, and what a difference those five minutes made.

There was one bright spot amidst the chaos that I was determined not to miss. Ella and Sam were coming to town all the way from the USA and she had invited a group of bloggers to lunch in a London pub. I was so excited to  be meeting Ella, Ami, Ronnie and Del Fonte and to catch up with Jan again. As you will know from Jan and Sunny, Ella was feeling poorly but she was a real trouper and kept the party going. We talked nineteen to the dozen into late afternoon, exchanging gifts after the other diners had thinned out a bit. Anyone watching would probably have thought we were a group of cooks.

I managed to do some catching up on readings blogs whilst we were away, though I must confess I was mostly a lurker. Hopefully, life will return to uneventful again over the next couple of weeks and I shall have time to keep up with you all again. In the meantime, I'm sure you'll be glad to know that my itchy-palmed husband is taking good care of me.



Rosie