It's a new day!

Today was the first day of the rest of my life. 

It was actually the first day of long service leave, the first day of a month away from my primary place of employment and the first day of not having to scramble around like crazy to get stuff done before work, for a while.

My grandiose plan is to keep a bit of a diary whilst I am on leave so when I do return, I can reflect on my Much Ado About Nothing time.

We shall see how this goes as I am pretty good at making plans and non spoken promises, but am even better at not keeping them as it turns out. I suspect that Procrastination is really my middle name and no-one ever told me. I wonder if there's a job for someone out there where the performance description meets that criteria. 

My day started out well enough with a bit of a sleep in. When I finally emerged out of bed I realised I had an appointment this afternoon to farewell a colleague's Mother so I had to get my act together if I was to do the things I had planned for the day.

Stuart Noni and I went for a bit of a wild time down the beach this morning. A lot of dredging was done down there in recent times and consequently every time I take them down the shoreline is a little different. Today the tide was well and truly in. there was lots of flotsam washed up onto the beach and even in one area there was to be an amount of mud which both dogs loved skidding in.We did a few laps of the sand bar and the dogs swam out for the ball as usual and as the rain came down once again, it was time to return home.

The afternoon as I mentioned before was planned around the attendance at a funeral of a work colleagues Mum. Hers was a beautiful story of a woman much loved by family and friends who had lived many years. 

Those years are never enough are they, regardless of the circumstances. We always wish we had longer time to spend with that person when they have gone and that is a large part of the feelings of grief..... the regret that how ever close you are or the closeness you experienced, it's never enough.

Anyhow, I returned to my home again....back to the bosom of my dogs and housework and then took a phone call from my very own mother asking if she and my brother could come over for dinner this evening which would complete the evening beautifully.

My mother is quite frail now. Some might see her and not notice her gradual 'decline' but it has struck me recently how tired she is all the time and how reticent she is to venture out much any more. She does go shopping, and we do go out for lunch and or for a cuppa each week, but social activities are now few and far between as she doesn't feel as confident as she once was, which is so frustrating for her. On more than one occasion she has said to me she hates feeling the way she does and that she wishes she could overcome her general feelings of ageing and becoming older with time.

I am very fortunate to have had two wonderful parents who both worked very hard to ensure their children never went hungry and that their lives were fulfilling and happy and I often reflect on this when I hear stories of what others have had to embrace when young.

So, mother and brother came for dinner, then they left as the weather is still wild and windy and raining and cold outside (it is winter after all).

So day 1 is almost ended and I will be off to bed before too long.