It doesn’t seem like it but it is now just over four years since my little Pixie was born as she celebrated her birthday last week. She was the first one of the children to have their birthday on a school day as Hpops always has hers in the summer holidays and Imp is often in the half term. This didn’t stop her, she was up early enough to open the majority of her cards and presents before we had to leave for school, she was delighted to wear a birthday badge on her school top and take in some sweets to share with her friends.
The afternoon was difficult as she couldn’t decide what she wanted to do, first it was the cinema, then it was a restaurant and in the end we went to the local starbucks for pink milk and a cookie, as once she got home she was distracted by more presents and cards. She enjoyed blowing out the candles on her cake and then the next count down started – the one to her party! She was very excited about this having been to quite a few of her class mates and some of the ones the older children had attended. In between we went to a roller skating party.
It was interesting watching the children go from complete beginners, where every move resulted in them falling over to novices which meant they could almost get around the whole course. Imp and Pixie proved to be very dodgy and I spent most of my time scooping them off of the floor or preventing them falling over. Hpops on the other hand after a shaky start seemed to figure out how to stay on her feet and manouvere herself around without too many problems. The evening ended with the realisation that Imp had lost his second tooth although it was nowhere to be seen. He spent some of the time looking for it but after a bit of coaxing he conceded defeat. Luckily we were able to convince him that if he smiled when he went to sleep the tooth fairy would see the gap and might leave him a reward, which of course is what happened.
The weekend heralded Pixie’s party, excitement before the event was reaching fever pitch and the entertainers comment; ‘She’s buzzing isn’t she?’ made me wonder if she was going to run out of energy. She attacked the microphone with gusto, danced with all her might and revelled in all the games and tricks the entertainer played. She did indeed thoroughly enjoy her party and adrenalin carried her through until quite late. It caught up with her on Sunday though and an early night seemed to get things back on track.
Whilst all these celebrations were going on marathon training continued, apart from a few days off thanks to a back injury, I was lucky enough to get a quick referral to a physiotherapist who not only diagnosed the problem and helped solve it, but also gave me some exercises to improve my core strength to make running easier. It turned out to be a pulled back and after a few days not running I was allowed to try and run and see if there was any pain. I was delighted when there wasn’t and then once I had seen the physio for a second visit and been given the go ahead I was able to resume normal training. I have a half marathon race this weekend and then just three long runs, an 18, 20 and then a 15 mile before the big day. It seems close not, only a calendar month which is both exciting and frightening, I think I am getting to the point now where I just want to to get it done and then the mammoth talk which seems to have taken over my life will be over, I guess now all I need to do is decide what I am going to do afterwards.