Hard labour

I am feeling quite empowered today, and also feel that reassuring, that inexplicable sense of belonging.  Steve has had to be away again this week, tuesday and wednesday night.  It was unavoidable, but the timing was lousy and left me having to do some serious juggling.  Tuesday night was Beavers night for Sam, it starts at 6:15 and then he needs picking up at 7:15 (it was only his second time, but he is loving it).  Tom is usually in the bath at 6:15 and asleep by 7:15 - you can see the dilemma right there.  The first part was solved by  Sam going to a friend's house after school, and then they took him along to Beaver's.  I knew I would have to pick all the kids up, and was dreading having to drag a very tired, bad tempered Tom along, and was having a moan about it to my friend, and neighbour, Claire.  Who wonderfully and magnificently leapt into the breach and offered to come to my house, bringing her two kids with, and stay with sleeping Tom. 

I had even more cause to be grateful to Claire and her kids tonight, because once again she came to help me out.  I had a long standing appointment at the diabetic clinic at 18:20 which I really didn't want to postphone, but neither did I want to lug the kids up there at that timeof day.  So she came to babysit again.  Claire, I am massively in your debt!!  Having a neighbour who is also a good friend, is something you just cannot underestimate value of.  It was not only Claire who offered help, other friends also put themselves forwards, as did the parents of some of  Sam's friends.  It was all these people who added to my sense of belonging.  I was needy, and wonderful people answered my need.

I am empowered today because I've been doing me some man's work! ;-) Okay, it's not really man's work, but in my head it was work that Steve was going to do, with me as the lovely assistant!  We are having a new bedroom carpet being delivered on thursday afternoon, which I am HUGELY excited about. But in order to have the new carpet fitted, the old one has got be 'uplifted' (as they call it, makes me slightly jealous, I want to be uplifted too!), and as Steve is away, it was all down to me! I will admit that I was rather irked that little ol me was going to have haul up the massive carpet ( the reason we are getting a new one is that it needs to be a 5 metre carpet in order to fit the room without a seam) and underlay and schlepp it all down to the back yard ALL BY MYSELF! (humph)
But I did it! It was bloody hard work.  Made myself dizzy pulling the carpet out from under the bed and had to have a bit of a sit down, but I hoicked furniture with style, and may I say, even some elegance ;-)

I will take a photo once my luxurious new full size carpet is in place, so the full magnificence can be seen :-)