You’ve probably seen me mention in blog posts and on social media about us moving house, but I realise I haven’t actually filled you in with the goings on of the last few weeks!

So, I told you about how Alex was poorly for a week at the end of January, and I barely got out of the house for over a week, right? Well, he got better (eventually) and we were going to Telford for a night. It was Graham’s sister-in-laws 40th birthday so we booked up a hotel room and were looking forward to a night away.

Ha!!

Within minutes of getting to the party, I could feel myself getting hotter and hotter. I felt so unwell, that less than hour of getting there, we were in the car heading back to the hotel. It was an incredibly long and uncomfortable night, despite the hotel room (a Premier Inn!) being lovely. One minute I was shivering, the next I was laying a towel in the bed because I had sweated that much.

The rest of the weekend was pretty much spent in bed. Monday was not much different – I chucked the kids in breakfast club and then Benjamin and I camped out in the bedroom, him with his tablet and me dozing on and off until Graham came home. Tuesday went pretty much the same way. On the evening, I managed to drag myself out of bed for a while. That’s when the doorbell rang. It was our letting agent with the official documents showing us that the landlord wasn’t renewing our contract. Our bungalow needs an awful lot of work, and he’d made the decision to do renovate and sell.

I felt like my world fell apart right then. This was our little bungalow by the beach, somewhere we thought we’d be for a few years, not 18 bloody months! Not only that but the hassle of finding somewhere to live that’s close to Graham’s work and school, the referencing process, the packing and of course, the cost.

Anyway, roll on a few weeks and we’ve found a gorgeous new house, a couple of miles down the road and cheaper rent than we pay now. We realise now that it’s been a bit of a blessing in disguise, although it certainly hasn’t felt that way at times.

It’s also made me realise how much I need to take a step back and concentrate on myself. It turns out that I’ve more than likely had glandular fever and the effects of it could last for weeks or months still. I’m not getting much time for myself at the moment, with work and packing, but I’ve made a vow to start looking after myself when we are moved and settled. I often eat poorly – skipping meals because I’m too busy or eating rubbish, drinking too much coffee and not enough water and, lately, not getting enough exercise and fresh air. I’ve been following lots of ‘slow living’ style accounts on Instagram, and I’m determined to take a leaf out of their book when we’ve moved.

So, that’s a bit of a life update. It’s a bit stressful at the moment whilst we are packing and waiting for a moving date, but once that’s out the way, normality will resume…I hope!

*Collaborative post