25th May 2009 

Sarah is still in the thick of her GCSE exams, but remains relentlessly cheerful and full of life (I think, though it’s sometimes hard to tell with teenagers). She’s 16 now, which feels quite impossible. The years do sprint past when you’re not looking.

Over the years, I’ve quietly filed away every photo I’ve taken of the children into individual folders on the computer, future-proofing the nostalgia, you might say. I opened Sarah’s folder the other day and was promptly ambushed by the passage of time. This morning, I found myself sitting on the bridge chucking pinecones into the river, and it struck me: it wasn’t all that long ago I was doing the very same thing with my little girl.

Yesterday, as part of Sarah’s birthday present, we booked her on a trip to Majorca with Charlotte and a friend. All-inclusive, naturally, they fly out the day after her final exam. As for the birthday itself, she opted for a sleepover in a tent in the garden with a few friends on Friday night (brave girls, it was chilly). Saturday morning saw them off to Leicester for a good shop, followed by a BBQ with us in the evening. Charlotte, Suraj, and Lucas came down to help celebrate, and a good time was had by all, even if the sausages were a bit blackened.

I was told off the other day for not mentioning Charlotte in these entries for a while, so here we go:
Charlotte has just been promoted at work (though what she’s meant to be doing now is still a bit unclear). She’s been industriously pottering about in the garden and is also set to join Sarah in Majorca. Currently, she’s driving a Land Rover Discovery, very grown-up. I still think she’s lovely, although she has begun to perfect the fine art of henpecking her dad (I suspect this is inherited).

Sue, poor thing, has come down with yet another chest infection and is presently in bed, well-dosed with antibiotics. I took her to Kettering hospital yesterday morning, where they ran every test under the sun, bloods, X-ray, ECG, the lot. They sent her home with a course of Erythromycin and strict instructions for rest and recovery (which in Sue’s case usually lasts until she spots something that needs doing). She did, at least, make it through Sarah’s birthday celebrations before retiring under the duvet.

Jamie, meanwhile, is still in possession of a hire car while his Peugeot is being repaired (the original damage was minimal). However, in true Jamie fashion, the hire car has already been “lightly reworked”, this time by a friend reversing into it. I do marvel at how I managed to live a largely peaceful, uncomplicated life, right up until Jamie came along. Returning the Matiz may prove… entertaining.

As for Nan, she’s fit, well, and currently attending a wedding in Wales. She’s likely staying on with her sister Josie for a spell. It could be a few days, it could be a few weeks; Nan doesn’t operate on fixed schedules. She comes home when she’s had enough, and not a moment sooner.