A retun to normality, what I was going to write......

September

For the last 10-15 yrs that has meant a return to school, the end of the holidays, nights drawing in, fewer days off work, no more sea swimming, football, fires and knuckling down to hard work
But
Things are about to change in Bessingham Towers. Jenny has far exceeded what she/we had hoped she may have been able to achieve in her school years. It was no fluke though. I've watched with immense pride how dammed hard she has worked all through her latter years and she got exactly what she deserved.
This leads to Leeds. With offers from some of the best universities in the world, she has made her choice and followed her heart to what she had always wanted - Uni life in a big cosmopolitan city with lots going on. The course will be challenging, rewarding interesting and mon dieu! we wish her well.
It will leave a vacuum in our home life which I will find hard to cope with. To have had the privilege to have been her old dad and watch her life develop to where she has arrived to today has been just the best thing.
Above all, she is ready for this. The next few days will be tough but before you know it, we'll have a future Prime Minister on our hands
All this has pushed young Rosie up the pecking order - not least in that she is know the holder of Jen's season ticket at Carrow Road. Rosie went back to yr 8 at Sheringham High School this morning. What a difference to the 1st day of term this time last year. If she can take any one thing from where Jenny has got to now it would have to be that hard work reaps reward. No doubt she will work out a scam to get round the hard work bit - but she is really looking forwards to this school year. Her sister tells her that year 8 is probably the best school year of all.
So for Rosie and DG, things are getting back to routine I guess. DG has a new intake of yr3 children to nurture though and no doubt will have the weight of the school on her shoulders again before too long. She seems better able to balance work/home life nowadays - now that she is a semi-pro runner. I dare say she'll be racking up even more miles when she only has one child at home to look after (well 2 if you include me). Actually I must have been a right pain in the arse to look after through the holidays and on into September. A rather innocuous  bump while playing football has led to a month or more not being able to drive. Arm tendon damage never seemed so debilitating but, truth be told, I'm a bit fed up with things now. I'm confined to barracks, ploughing through work while sitting in front of a monitor and keyboard. I know that's what a large percentage of the working population do, but for a long time now I've been out and about, filling my lungs with fresh air, having a wander and enjoying the Norfolk countryside. I've actually been doing my survey job for 30 years now, as of yesterday. There were no fanfares, no gold watches, no envelopes stuffed full of cash. A simple letter from the guvnor saying cheers mate was all I was deemed to be worthy of. Maybe he has a point right now.
So my start to September is not usual at all. I can't wait to get out on a bike again or take up a set of golf clubs or a fishing rod, but that may have to wait till next spring now. Hopefully I'll be ok to drive soon - at least I can go and have a paddle then, but in the meantime I'll have to rely on Mrs H.