We’ve got a lodger! Only for about a month, but my sister has come to stay.

This will probably mean weight loss for me, as we’ll probably have the same amount of food and drink in the house, but with an extra mouth to feed.

Bonus!

We’re off to Turkey!

Mother-in-law, sister-in-law and niece are already there (a beach resort near Tekirova, apparently) and we’re heading off on Saturday to meet them. I’ve never seen niece before and haven’t seen the others for a few years, so very much looking forward to it.

I’m also half way through serving my notice in my current job and start my new job on October 12.

All in all, makes for a relaxing time

Today, we’re going to visit family.

Specifically, my mum and step-dad in Gloucestershire and on the way, picking up my sister (Tooting) and my older brother (Molesey).

Nothing unusual about this I suppose, except I don’t get to see family very often. I haven’t seen my mum since May, and my sister in over a year, I think.

Also, tonight, we’re all going out for a Christmas meal. This means I’ll probably have to eat relatively normal and even festive things. Something I haven’t done for a while.

Should be an interesting exercise. 

If I don’t survive the evening well, I’ll be in no fit state drive home tomorrow, so will get to extend my family visit a little longer.

Update: I survived

Last weekend, we went to visit my mum and step-dad in Gloucestershire. This was a first longish trip in Herman and a welcome return to the place where I grew up. All very peaceful and rural and all that.

The hills were especially welcome – living in London, and Amsterdam before that, left me feeling like everything is flat. 

It was also nice to be driving in my own car – my first car - around the place where I grew up. I recall being driven and driving as a learner way back, but this was different.

Also different was the roads. Being back there after twenty-three years, I felt like I’d never left, until I suddenly came across a mini-roundabout, or a junction where there was none before.

Unlike London, Gloucestershire was very wet last weekend, but there were some dry moments and we got to go for walks in the hills. I even dusted off my old walking boots for the occasion. I made it up some steepish gradients and didn’t die. Bonus.

Some pics of my childhood stomping ground here.

Anyways, we decided to continue the country theme by spending the next bank holiday in the Lake District. Neither of us have been there before so really looking forward to that. Only a few weeks to go

Today, I was planning to visit my older brother. He lives in a smallish town in London’s south-west suburbia. My other brother, who lives on the south coast, would also be there, so it would be a good opportunity to catch up with siblings, deliver Christmas presents, and generally be merry.

However, my plans are thwarted because apparently, on Boxing Day, there are no trains, and I have no car.

Yet.

This is ironic because in the 23 years that I haven’t had a car, I’ve never felt particularly immobile; there was always a reasonable alternative to the private car. Now I’ve decided to buy one, I found myself stuck.

It’s also strange that in 23 years, I never realised that you can’t get a train on Boxing Day. I suppose subconsciously I always knew this, and travelled at other times around the Christmas period.

So why do we not have a train service on one of the few days of the year when people have the time to go and visit people? Seems odd to me. Perhaps all the train crews are busy shopping in the post-Christmas sales.