11th November 20
It’s felt like a very long week. Monday night saw me at a referees’ meeting in Leicester, followed by a PTA meeting on Tuesday, and then a governors’ meeting on Wednesday. Thursday night I trained the Colts, and on Friday I helped officiate at the Rugby Club’s Fireworks Display. Just for good measure, I then agreed to referee Harborough versus Anstey on Saturday.

I had some concerns about keeping the pace. I haven’t run at all since the summer holidays, but as it turned out, I managed. The game was littered with so many errors that I was blowing the whistle every few minutes, which gave me ample time to catch my breath. Frankly, I’d have struggled had either side been any good.

That evening, I unwound with a video (Ghost Rider) and then went to bed. Still snuggled under the duvet, Sue brought me a coffee at 10 am on Sunday, but I was still so shattered I promptly fell asleep again. Later, I rallied enough to paint a window before calling it a day. That was quite enough productivity for the day of rest.

Sue, meanwhile, has been working all week. One of the staff at Church Langton is away due to bereavement in the family, so she’s stepped in to cover. Annoyingly, another school rang at the last minute to beg for help on her only free day, and, heroically, she went in. On one of the evenings, she even sat through a fire extinguisher training course. That same night, I cooked a rather tasty curry (if I do say so myself), and even Jamie said it was good. Unsurprisingly, Sue was too tired by Friday to join Sarah and me at the Rugby Club Fireworks Display and opted for an early night instead.

Amazingly, Jamie is still with Lara. He went out on Saturday night to a nightclub in Northampton with friends and apparently had a good time, although it cost him dearly. Fortunately, I don’t think Lara was with him.

Sarah has had an equally busy week, kicking off with her mock GCSEs. She’s been revising diligently and doesn’t seem too stressed, which I take as a positive sign. She also made curry at school and promised I could have some for tea on Friday, but then ate the lot herself whilst in school! Ironically, she did get an ‘A’ for it, which is something, though I would’ve liked to have compared it to my Thursday-night masterpiece.

Charlotte is knee-deep in wedding planning for next summer, which is due to take place in Zanzibar. She’s visiting Nan in Thurcroft on Monday. Meanwhile, Lucas is nearly walking; he just needs one finger to hold onto and can totter a few brave steps. The nightmare is about to begin!