My silver blue Peugeot felled itself with a flat tyre. It happened last Saturday morning as I was driving back from an appointment with a regular client. The steering lost its power and I could feel every abrasive bump and lump of chewing gum on the tarmac. Although it happened on Talgarth Road, one of London's "quieter, urbane" routes, I managed somehow to will my limping vehicle onto a back street behind Barons Court Tube. Fortunately as it was a Saturday the parking was free and double fortunately Younger Dad had returned from an over seas trip so he was available to rescue my sorry car. We forgot to renew the RAC membership last Summer so I'm not quite sure what I would have done if it'd just been me and Little A. H, my best buddy, assured me that you can call out the RAC regardless. That's good to know.
Our ancient boiler sprang a watering can of leaks which flooded boxes, gym clothes and a pair of boxing mitts. Water is currently dripping into several plastic containers. Our usual plumber ironically named Mr Nice won't touch it and protested at the meniality of the job by gruffly putting the phone down on Younger Dad. We are now on a hunt for another plumber before we escape London for the Jubliee weekend. Younger Dad is convinced its a broken seal that's causing the waterworks but its looking like we may need to buy a new boiler. This is not good. We are currently preparing the anti tardis, our cramped London Flat, for sale and could do with out this extra enormous cost.
But here's ... the good ...
Last week we started toilet training. Little A now mostly bypasses her potty in favour of climbing onto her step stool and clambering like a mountaineer onto her toddler toilet seat. As to be expected we've had puddles on the carpet. But thanks to a heap of reward stickers she's getting the hang of it. I've decided upon a laid back approach of daily training sessions with the intent of building her time on the potty and toilet gradually.
Potty Training - An up hill climb |
The sun shone gloriously on West London. After nap time Little A and I took afternoon strolls around the block picking dandelion clocks and buttercups. One late afternoon we also bought a Cornetto. Little A and I sat on a shady grass verge and quietly shared the ice cream. It was a sublime moment.
Work has begun on the entrance and porch area of our flat. The pathing has been retiled, a new gate attached, the exterior painted, new frosted glass panels fitted and a new front door, which I want painted in teal, will arrive next week. This is all part or our mission to get the flat on the market. We had hoped this would happen this Spring but life happens and now we are aiming for the Autumn.
One of my favourite bloggers announced in a lovely post that she's pregnant again. I was over joyed by her news as I know from her blog that this is something she's wanted for a while. Happy tears welled in my eyes when I read her story. I was really moved. Its wonderful to hear about the good fortune of others.
On Tuesday I was a contributor on a short pilot for a chat show. This is the first time I've ever been on televised camera. As you can imagine I was very nervous. The topic under discussion was older mothers which is something I know a little about and the reason why the production team contacted me. The actress Natalie Cassidy (Sonia from East Enders) hosted the show and I was pitted against journalist Carole Malone to argue the case for older mums. If the pilot is commissioned I will be invited back to film an hour long show which will be broadcast on Channel 5. If you're interested, Today Was A Different Day tells the full tale of my adventures on screen.
On balance the flat tyre and leaky boiler have been eclipsed by all the great things that have happened this week. A lot to be grateful for and plenty of reasons to be cheerful. I'm linking up with the lovely Michelle from Mummy From The Heart where you'll find other uplifting posts.