2018: Reflecting on our year
This has been a year when, on the surface of it, not much happened. No new babies, no moving house, no international travel. It was a year of establishing and growing. A good year.
The highlights...
Building works. When the year started, our front yard was a messy slope with random weeds; lots of work and sweat (by Mr.) later, we have a fully functional car parking space. He literally filled up the slope one wheelbarrow at a time, with the soil he dug up from the back garden.
Meanwhile in the back garden, Mr dug out the foundations for our extension and late in the year, the builders began work. As at the time of this writing, the wall is about knee high - hopefully by the end of January the shell will be completed.
Hairdressing. I finished my qualification at the start of summer, and have been slowly (!) building up since then. I find I'm not great at telling people I do this, and there are limitations to what I can do at the moment; I don't feel comfortable to perform chemical services (like colour and perms) when I go to people's homes as I don't know what sort of facilities I'll find there (shower, bath etc) and I'm worried about carpets and so on; once we have the extension I hope there'll be space I can use as a studio, and perform these services at home.
Friendships. It's been a year of establishing, deepening, and growing in friendships. We have got really close with a lovely family that have two little boys, the older of them goes with his dad and our boys for a weekly breakfast now. We love doing life together with our friends at church as well.
N at nursery. She started at the beginning of the year, at a small and very outdoorsy nursery. A great place. While she loved the adults and the activities, she never did find it easy to get along in a group of four year olds - they can be loud, boisterous, and not very nice at times; which she found really stressful. So at the end of the year I allowed her a choice and she chose not to continue going - more on this here, I wrote a long blog post about it. Meanwhile there were some great memories made there.
I'm kind of sad to leave that place behind, but she was very clear in her choice and I respect that. Also, I think D with his different personality may find it suits him better - he'll be eligible for his free hours in September 2019.
So... a good year. We look forward to what 2019 brings!
The highlights...
Building works. When the year started, our front yard was a messy slope with random weeds; lots of work and sweat (by Mr.) later, we have a fully functional car parking space. He literally filled up the slope one wheelbarrow at a time, with the soil he dug up from the back garden.
Meanwhile in the back garden, Mr dug out the foundations for our extension and late in the year, the builders began work. As at the time of this writing, the wall is about knee high - hopefully by the end of January the shell will be completed.
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| Front: the beginning |
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| Building a wall |
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| Filling in |
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| Got the kerb dropped! |
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| The finished product. |
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| Extension plans |
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| A digger in the garden!! |
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| Apple tree had to come down |
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| Digging |
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| Foundations |
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| Today's status. |
Hairdressing. I finished my qualification at the start of summer, and have been slowly (!) building up since then. I find I'm not great at telling people I do this, and there are limitations to what I can do at the moment; I don't feel comfortable to perform chemical services (like colour and perms) when I go to people's homes as I don't know what sort of facilities I'll find there (shower, bath etc) and I'm worried about carpets and so on; once we have the extension I hope there'll be space I can use as a studio, and perform these services at home.
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| Training |
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| Training |
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| Just a trim |
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| A "conservative mohawk" |
Friendships. It's been a year of establishing, deepening, and growing in friendships. We have got really close with a lovely family that have two little boys, the older of them goes with his dad and our boys for a weekly breakfast now. We love doing life together with our friends at church as well.
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| While we didn't go on holiday, we did go camping with friends a few times this year. Happy days! |
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| Camping fun |
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| The boys at breakfast |
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| The boys building friendship |
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| The boys at The Matthew |
N at nursery. She started at the beginning of the year, at a small and very outdoorsy nursery. A great place. While she loved the adults and the activities, she never did find it easy to get along in a group of four year olds - they can be loud, boisterous, and not very nice at times; which she found really stressful. So at the end of the year I allowed her a choice and she chose not to continue going - more on this here, I wrote a long blog post about it. Meanwhile there were some great memories made there.
I'm kind of sad to leave that place behind, but she was very clear in her choice and I respect that. Also, I think D with his different personality may find it suits him better - he'll be eligible for his free hours in September 2019.
So... a good year. We look forward to what 2019 brings!
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