Raging storms outside (threatening to wipe out New Year celebrations, according to the local papers...) which seem quite appropriate on a day clearing out Christmas and putting it all back in the box for another year.
How come the rooms always seem so much bigger when the decorations come down?
Good to have this quiet day at home - almost like a sigh of relief itself sweeping through the house. The kids have all been subdued and shell-shocked all day, worn out from the two previous days of visiting family.
Finally caught up with D and K on Wednesday at the farm, where we were also joined by Gill and Vic so it was very much a full house. Excellent day though, just chatting, eating and generally getting on. Seems weird to hear D talking of his new civvy job with an aerobatics team based in Northants - he's finding the 'real' world very exciting. ANd with a baby due at Easter this is going to be a good year for them. Once they get to sell the three houses they own between them...
Then yesterday at Mum's catching with my sister too, who we also see far too little of.
In between, we've been forced again to confront the challenge of our contraceptive plans for the future, which was a little unexpected. Trx was planning to go and see a doctor next week and talk about the side effects of this hormone-releasing coil she's using, which have been increasing worse over the past fortnight.
The 'blepharitis' in her right eye refuses to respond to any drips and drops, and the headaches are worsening with a noticable decline in her vision. This has been worrying us for weeks, but it seems no-one really is willing to tie the cause with the effect.
Add to this the sudden hairloss over the past fortnight, and it all seems a bit dramatic. But on Thursday, during a routine appointment to get Nora's Jabs, she managed to speak to a community midwife and nurse, who both seemed very concerned and suggested the coil was removed straightaway.
So that's that.
We are back with an Issue to deal with sometime next year. Whenever we decide the time is right to resume some kind of sex life.
Be careful what you pray for I suppose....