No Wi-fi But Quality Family Time #SixWordSaturday

Our gorgeous sunny holiday is over!!!

I’m so sad to be home as it doesn’t take long for the holiday to seem a lifetime ago (when we only got back yesterday) and normality to set in- washing (loads of it), shopping (Old Mother Hubbard has nothing on my cupboards, fridge and freezer), paying bills (grrr) and being absolutely freezing cold despite the sun shining.

But the saddest thing of all is that now we’re home, we’re back to doing our own thing. The teenager has gone to the gym and meeting up with friends. The Hubby is on his XBox and I’m tippy tappy on the laptop (whilst waiting for the washing machine to do it’s thing).  

On holiday there was no wi-fi which meant no continuous status updates or chats with friends or sharing photos. (Well I shared the odd one which no doubt will cost a small fortune but I’ll worry about that when the bill comes in). It also meant I missed the week my book was on sale so there was minimal publicity for that (I may have posted a few tweets . . . again, I’ll see what the bill says . . . eeekkk).

But no wi-fi!!

What were we to do??? I thought I would go into meltdown. The teenager’s life had officially ended.

Talk!

It meant we had to talk to each other for two weeks! Face to face conversations over a meal . . . ate at a table . . .  in a restaurant  . . . with fantastic views.

I still took pics of my food!

The sangria!! Yummy!!! 

And boy, did we talk. Even the teenager couldn’t stop (the odd beer loosening his tongue). OK, so I now know about the superhero movies and the order to watch them, how they link to the comics etc. I know some stories from a life when my Hubby wasn’t my Hubby (didn’t his life start when he met me?). I probably know some other stuff too as we talked about random things, rambling on, late into the night, sitting on the balcony, watching the twinkling lights of the fishing boats come and go as we drank Sangria.

But it’s over and it may be the last holiday we have as a family as the teenager will be 18 next year, and already talking about holidays with his mates.

So, I’ll just gaze through the photos of our tanned, smiling faces and remember that actually no wi-fi wasn’t the end of the world for any of us.

The view from the balcony. Pure bliss

Anchor 5 Sentence Fiction

Kim lay on the sun drenched deck enjoying sudden spurts of ocean spray, cooling her sizzling skin, before the pirate ship anchored in the lee of a small deserted island.  The gentle lapping of  turquoise waters met a short strip of white sand where a barbecue was already cooking in the shadow of a cluster of palm trees, as Kim began to spray coconut oil all over her already golden skin, determined to make the most of her last day on holiday, wishing she could stay in paradise forever.

       She tried to ignore the history and stories of pirates on the island; stranded by other pirates with nothing more than a pistol and a bottle of rum, turning on each other before going mad with the sun, until panicking voices made her sit up.

       “I've no idea why they’ve sailed away, the tour guide began, “but I’m sure they’re playing some sort of joke and we’ll be back on board in the blink of an eye,” she said, trying to hide the alarm in her voice.

      Staring out to sea, Kim saw the pirate ship appear to get smaller, becoming nothing more than a speck on the horizon as the sun began to sink, casting a shadow of uncertainty and fear across the island and its new inhabitants.

Written for Lillie McFerrin's 5 Sentence Fiction where you can read all the entries. x

That Sunday Night feeling. . . .

I was asked whether I could write something this Sunday evening by a friend (The Mad American) who would like cheering up. You see she is suffering from ‘That Sunday Night Feeling’ and she’s not alone.  It happens every Sunday but this Sunday evening is much worse because it follows two fantastic weeks off work.

I know we shouldn’t moan about going back after two weeks when others went back to work after Boxing Day and some even worked Christmas.  (And I have been one of those people working Christmas in past jobs). And we are very lucky with the time off we do get and it is very much appreciated but we wish this holiday would never end.

The Christmas holiday has been amazing this year. The Mad American (who asked for this blog) stayed in the UK for Christmas and as much as she misses her family stateside, she has a lovely family here and shed loads of friends. In fact her daughter came back from the states to join her for Christmas. How cute. I think they spent an awful amount of time in Costa according to her facebook; single handed she's propping up the local branch.

And there have been an amazing amount of birthdays this past two weeks for the Mad American; one of which was mine of Boxing Day and another was a very good friend of her’s who had a mile stone birthday. Just so many things going on despite the weather.  

Indeed, on New Year’s Eve which was blustery, wet and cold (as usual), my Hubby and I went for a mad stroll along the beach which was whipping up a frenzy so much, the sea looked like a milkshake. The wind felt like a million stones were being thrown at our faces such was the sting and ache with bitter cold. But I need my daily walk. My Hubby says that I am very much like a dog in that I need the fresh air to tire me out so I sleep well and it gets rid of my mood and I was moody. It was New Year’s Eve and we ended up being a taxi for our son.  But I am pleased he had a good time if not slightly filled with envy but then he is 14 and I’m 40something 39 again. So I had to let off some energy and being tossed around the beach like a polystyrene cup in that wind certainly did the trick. Soaked through and freezing cold, it was the best New Year’s Eve after a long hot shower and snuggling up all cosy until being summoned to collect No 1 Son.  

There was another walk a few days later at Cuckmere Haven which turned into a survivalist’s adventure. Ray Mears I am not! The footpath was three feet under water so had to go off road which was awful for someone who is a city chick, hates heights and mud.  And the Hubby left me as I was being a wimp and laughed at my struggles from above as I slipped and slid all over the place. I think at one point I was on all fours crawling up a bank to avoid a deep bog.  

But I digress. It is Sunday night and it’s back to work tomorrow. It is lovely to see everyone again and get back into the swing of things. But it’s that early morning alarm call that is going to keep me awake most of the night as I worry whether I will hear my alarm in the morning.  And that worry will keep me awake. Not that I am an insomniac- the beach walks, writing and giving up drinking Pepsi Max have sorted that out.  And it’s not the ticking of the clocks either; there are no ticking clocks. It drives me mad. When I stay at my mum’s, all her ticking clocks are shoved deep in drawer smothered in blankets.  It’s back to clock watching, getting lunches ready, uniform ready, getting up while it is still dark which should be banned, walking to work in the dark which is scary even though it’s the same route as the summer, it just seems sinister and therefore should be banned, if nothing else for my own sanity.

And now to sign off this blog so my friend can be distracted from her planning and read this (yes although it has been a nice break off work, work still needs to be done in preparation for the next six weeks and another week off- woo hoo). I hope you all had a fab Christmas, New Year, Birthday (if applicable lol), parties, family time and if you made any New Year resolutions, I hope you are going well with them. Mine is going brilliantly after five days in but we shall see . . .

PS Good luck to Sis who has decided to give the cigarettes the push once and for all.  

Love, Me

xx

Holiday Day 22

I would love to scan my own pics in at some point just to show the beauty of the place as it was then. A gorgeous holiday I took with a friend. xx

Holiday

The best holiday I ever had; Thailand. 2 weeks, £500, sun, sea, sand and lots of wind! Yes the resort was so windy, the sand kept whipping at our skin. So we decide to ditch, get the guide book out and go and find the paradise we expected. 4 hours on a smelly, stuffy train; the only two westerners on it, followed by a boat trip and then we were at our paradise island. No light pollution, no wind. The generator switched off at midnight, plunging us into complete darkness save the stars that completely covered the sky like someone had been constantly pricking it with a pin. I’d never seen so many stars; shooting stars too. The toilet was a bucket; the accommodation very basic but I didn't care. No commercialism, no high rises and no shops, cars or amusements. The beach, a bar and the sun. Perfect!

 151- oops gone over again but it was just so awesome! A once in a life time expereince of which even 151 words is not enough. 

Day twenty-two; jump-on-board-for-blogflash2012-30-days-30-prompts-30-posts/ coutesey of Terri Giuliano Long. Pop along to her page The Art and Craft of Writing Creatively for wonderful tips and advice on writing and for reading the entries from wondeful writers.

   

Journey

Day nine Journey

Photograph by Ralph Koch. Do not use without permission.

This is my Hubby’s favourite photo. He calls it ‘My two favourite Ladies.’  This was taken in the Pyrenees on our tour zipping across the French/Spanish border.  It was our first proper holiday together, riding across the mountains; I was navigating and did it pretty well if I say so myself. I can’t read in a car but resting the map on Hubby’s back as we rode was easy.

It was our last holiday for a while as little did we know that another journey had already started; no wonder I felt ill every morning . . .

Day nine of the jump-on-board-for-blogflash2012-30-days-30-prompts-30-posts/ coutesey of Terri Giuliano Long. Pop along to her page The Art and Craft of Writing Creatively for wonderful tips and advice on writing and for reading the entries from wonderful writers.