cars

This is the first time I have written a post in what seems like forever. It has been a busy few months with me starting a new full-time job, Khaya starting school, my partner juggling full-time parenting and a full-time job, Christmas and all of the chaos that brings.

Today is a monumental day. It’s the last day of 2019, the last day of the 2010s, and the last year of my 30s. It’s also the day that we bought a proper family car. Our own car! I’m wondering when it will hit me that we don’t have to give this one back to anybody. We both feel like proper grown-ups and it feels so good to have had enough savings to enable us to buy a car and insure it, tax it, get a resident parking permit and fill up with fuel all on the same day.

Oh, and pay to get an Uber to the car in order to collect it.

It was the only way.

And it was a good journey. I had a lovely driver, who was chatty and friendly. He didn’t cancel at the last minute, and he didn’t drive me to the car using a crazy route. It was straightforward, easy and quick. Oh, and before you ask, I used my partner’s account. I still don’t have the app on my phone ;). But, I will admit that I found the experience rather pleasing, much to my chagrin. Perhaps, now that we will have use of our own car, I can use today’s experience to book-end my relationship with Uber as well as see out the past year and decade.

I found out recently that if you were born in the ’80s, by 2020 you will have already lived in 2 centuries and millenia before you turn 40. For me, that will only be true for a couple of months…

So, for all of you using cars, Ubers and whatever else to be where you need/want to be to see in the New Year, here’s to 2020; the year and the sickly, slightly-alcoholic drink of our youth (RIP). I hope you all have a brilliant year ahead. Do whatever you need to do to be happy, healthy and secure.

HNY!

NSG xxx

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

I want to start this post by saying that I actually love rain. Rain is so important and vital to the smooth running of this planet. I remember being in Malawi during a terrible drought and, when the rain finally came, we were all so happy to see it! Even us miserable Brits.

I love rainy days indoors – Chilling on the sofa with a cuppa and an old movie, occasionally looking smugly out of the window at the poor unfortunate souls having to travel and go out in this oppressive weather. You really can’t beat that.

But yesterday, my relationship with the rain became soured. As did my relationship with Uber… which was already souring quite rapidly after a ridiculously expensive trip home from my local Asda about a month ago. Let me tell you all about it…

My eldest son started school last week. It has been a huge change for all the family, and we are really having to pull our socks up more than ever before, despite being exhausted after all the laundry, ironing, organising, planning, getting him to bed and school on time, etc. We have always been a bit relaxed about getting out of the house, mainly because it stresses me out so much trying to get everyone out of the door in a relatively decent state. We try to make vague plans to meet people and I recently found out that my friends are telling me to get places earlier now because I am often late (which is NEVER my fault). Anyway, I digress. So, yesterday morning, the heavens opened and we decided that we should get an Uber to take us to the school because we didn’t want Khaya to get his uniform too wet and turn up to school looking dishevelled. We checked the time of the wait for a driver, and booked with enough time to get ready, meet the driver outside and get to the school for 8.50am. The driver cancelled at the very last minute, while he was on his way to us. I guess it was too short a journey. Thanks, buddy. If we left at that time once we knew we would have to now walk to the school, we would just make it at Khaya’s pace. So, we had the genius plan for me to push him in the buggy, which would have shaved off lots of time and we would have managed to keep him dry and looking crisp in his uniform.

I got soaked. Completely through. I had to peel off my clothes when I arrived home, despite having a raincoat on the whole time. I must have looked like a cat who had fallen into a bath. My boots (with whom I have also got a soured relationship) were not very waterproof so I got sopping wet socks from walking through a deep puddle. Then, to add insult to injury, they were a touch too big so I now have two very painful blisters on the back of my heels. Yay.

When I got home and changed, I sat down, switched on my computer and was asked by my partner, ‘Isn’t it time to take Nathi to the hospital for his eye appointment?’. Ugh. I hadn’t eaten or had a cuppa, so I felt like a zombie. We got Nathi up, dressed and out of the door (and even got him to wear his glasses!), and we were off. Everything went well after that, except for mis-predicting how long it would take to get to the school to collect Khaya at 3pm. Nathi and I were out, so we hadn’t done that journey before. Needless to say, my partner had to stop work to go and get him (Sorry, darling). But, we all met up at the school and went to the pub together. We watched the poor unfortunate souls through the window while I sank into my Pinot Noir and nursed my aching heels.

I hope all of you have had more successful school runs. And, if anyone has a car they want to donate, please let me know.

NSG xxx

Photo credit: Pete Nowicki on Unsplash