Recap of the Month - September 2023

I didn't get around to posting a monthly recap for August, although the gist of it was covered in my football round up. September was different, with fewer football matches but as much travelling - and a major life milestone towards the end of the month: our Silver Wedding Anniversary!

There have been several times in the run up to our 25th wedding anniversary that Cathy and I have discussed how we can't possibly be having a Silver Wedding because that's what old people have! And yet here we are and suddenly we are the old people celebrating being married for a quarter of a century.

We have been through a lot together. We have lost people we love along the way. And we have made lots of new friends - and some of them have made even more friends for us - since we got married. When we gathered some friends together to celebrate there were lots of kids to invite as well. 

We booked our friend Sian to come and do a photoshoot of us with everyone during the day - and that's her handiwork at the top of the post, when we got a few photos outside in the grounds of the venue. Sian would have been on our guestlist anyway, but she did a fabulous job coaxing our nephews, nieces and other younger friends to smile and pose nicely for photos. I've loved Sian's photography for a long time so it was great to actually be in the pictures.

Having family here meant I also got to watch a Rugby World Cup game with my sister and brother-in-law and the nieces and nephew who support Scotland. They were staying the night after the party and it was a rare opportunity to hang out with them.

My niece Jura in the photo under duress!

We had the celebration on the Saturday before our actual anniversary. On the day itself I had the day off work and we went to Porthcawl for a little look round the shops.

Jaffa Cake ice cream!

We stopped at Rest Bay for a snack in the car overlooking the waves. The wind was up and there was a nice wildness in the air there. It was a low key highly enjoyable relaxing day.

The celebration weekend was in-between two weekends with a Northern feel. The first one involved a trip to Leeds for Margot's memorial service. That was on the Friday and I stayed in Shrewsbury the weekend which meant I saw my eldest nephew, Zac, on his birthday. 

We also went to a football match with some of his mates - sadly a disappointing defeat for Shrewsbury Town.

The other weekend involved a trip to Manchester for a big work event. As a team we have been gearing up for this event since I started my "new" job back in July. It marked the launch of the new brand identity for the programme and a new name - "Together Type 1". 

Some of my team suitably branded up

I don't often blog about work but this was a very special day where I got to meet several of the young people with type 1 diabetes who are involved in the programme. They are a truly inspiring group of people and meeting them in real life was probably my highlight of a very busy couple of days where I was mainly in 'event mode'.

So, after a month of travelling and big events, both personal and professional, I feel I can relax a bit although looking at the calendar, October is going to be another month with a bit of travel in it too!

In Porthcawl even the bins are dapper

I spotted this in Porthcawl while on the hunt for Snoopy statues as part of the Dog's Trail created for the Dogs Trust. Someone had lost a hat and a helpful passer-by had put it somewhere noticeable. Mr Bin looks very dapper now!

There will be some photos of the Snoopy statues on a future blogpost. In the meantime, here's a picture of us with the Snoopy statue situated outside the surf shack in Rest Bay. It was a sunny Easter Sunday when we visited this one.

Pressure produces diamonds

Apparently. (It also breaks continental plates.)

It hasn't been an easy month or so. Cath has been ill and off work. On Tuesday the doctor told her that (and this is a paraphrase, but it's Cathy's summary) 'you're broken and I don't know how to fix you.'

Two of my friends experienced an unexpected bereavement when a pregnancy fell short.

Work hasn't been easy. Managerial caution at the highest level (some of it justifiable) has pushed one of my already-fragile colleagues almost over the edge. I have my own issues with another person who seems to have a fantastic knack for making easy jobs much, much harder than they should be, and a definite talent for creating work for other people. Unfortunately I am other people.

I still get surprised by reminders of Grandad when I least expect it. Occasionally I am ambushed by grief.

But there have been some good things shining through like sun rays in a cloudy sky.

Last week on my birthday I saw all three members of my immediate family. And it was sunny, so we went to Rest Bay and breathed in sea air and saw starfish in the rock pools.

The dodgy bit of our roof is finally - after months of stress - fixed!

Along with all the other staff I got given a Cadbury's Creme Egg in work from our CEO for Easter. Sometimes it's the littlest gestures that mean the most.

I am now working on helping with two more books. I may be involved in four books getting published this year now.

My eBay purchase of a box of 100 Padres baseball cards arrived, and I've been geekily cataloguing them. Happy Excel Spreadsheet fun!