A slightly strange one...

This year's festive day was slightly odd. On the eve of Norfolk going into tier four of restrictions, which basically means a lock down and nobody can come in and out of the county. We took the deliberate and sad choice not to see wider family, simply for their safety. We did, however have a lovely quiet family day with swag galore, a beautiful lunch, a bracing morning dog walk, world wide family zoom call with the Sullivan clan and when the kids had had enough of us, Mrs Hammond and I indulged in a bit of 'Die Hard'. An obvious Christmas film classic! 😆 Christmas came upon me so quickly with working right up till late on the day before, under quite stressful circumstances. I tried my best to make it a good day for my tribe and keep a smile up, but found in a bit hard at times not to cover my sadness. Covid continues to dominate our lives and have such an impact and I'm still finding it hard not to be on high alert at all times. The burden and worry of keeping everyone safe feels very heavy these days. I remain, and say it once again, so proud of the girls and their resilience in the midst of all of this. Everyone in the Hammond house seems to find it easier to relax and I'm definitely playing catch up! I've not settled down today at all, choosing to clean the house. I'm hoping a bit of time with Amy and the girls will calm my head down. One can only hope. In this year of years, it is still so important to keep 'normal' things going for the girls and Christmas is most definitely one of those things. We spoilt them rotten. It does warm my heart to give gifts in abundance. So Merry Christmas to my girls and here's to a brighter 2021 xxx

The big man is nearly here!

With national restrictions increasing and the addition of a new tier four for certain areas with high rates of infection, thankfully not Norfolk, the world is so desperately trying to dampen our family Christmas spirits. We have a house full of food, hopefully Mrs Hammond will be wrapping the presents in the coming days as I am truly inept at this, we have each other, we are well and that will do me. I am pushing hard to get over the finish line and get work wound up by the end of Christmas Eve, then some quiet time with my family is most definitely needed. Anna and I have already started the Christmas game of monopoly; the pandemic may not change our mood but this might!! 😆 Family time will mean the world to me. I'm really struggling now, so very much with lack of sleep, no real break to speak of this year apart from a few days in August and if I can persuade my children to spend time with me, it would be gratefully received over the holidays x

Survived another weekend of single parenting (or more importantly the kids did!)

With Amy away this weekend for her course, I was left in charge of the household for three whole days! What could possibly go wrong?!? The kids would be well supported and have a stable diet of course! It was a manic few days as parent, shopper, lift giver, football dad, artistic director (all be it a temporary position in Mrs Hammond's absence) in getting all the decorations up. I achieved all and more, even squeezing in a couple of films with Anna, breaking down and spending three hours stuck in the car with Wiggle and got to witness a heroic penalty save. Lucy caught up with an old friend and you could see the positive impact it had on her. Its been months since they got together and friendships are even more important at this time. The house is feeling festive, the girls are opening their Harry Potter and Marvel pop calendars with excitement and I think I nailed this weekend. Apart from one thing, I could not prevent Anna sneezing in her mask with hilarious results whilst out and about!. Lucy and I did have quite a titter. Mrs Hammond is home, we missed her and normal service and the way of things is resumed, with me reverting back to clearing up after everybody! Only seventeen more sleeps till Santa comes, unless he's self isolating and then.....😄