2023: That was the year that was January to June

On 2nd January, we took my son back to university after the Christmas holidays. We had a walk around the penguin sculpture trail in Birmingham and also sold my husband’s car, as he would be getting a new one ‘at the end of the month’. Hetty had a very dramatic haircut, which upset us all and also made us worry that she was underweight.

We saw my son compete in two indoor athletics competitions in January – in Loughborough and Cardiff. Unfortunately he didn’t do well in them – either jumping before the board or getting no jumps. His best jump at both competitions was 6.39.

My husband, daughter and I went to Cheshire to go to his friend’s 50th birthday party – possibly the first of many over the next year or two.

February was a good month for us. My husband and I went to see Stewart Lee’s stand-up show and I saw my daughter dance in two shows – one at her dance school and one at a schools’ festival with her school. Later in the month, they performed the school dance in a regional competition and won! The new car finally arrived on 17th February. It’s electric, which is a learning curve, but we’re really happy with it.

In half term, my husband, daughter and I had a lovely holiday to Portugal. Two days later, my husband, sister, brother-in-law and I ran Bourton 10k. Then right at the end of the month I went to see my favourite band, the Levellers, with my eldest.

My younger son did three more athletics competitions including BUCS (university sports) indoors. Unfortunately he didn’t very well in any of them, but was showing signs of improvement at BUCS. My eldest had a holiday cancelled as he was at the airport hotel ready to fly and my husband tested positive for Covid (his third time in 16 months!) at the end of the month.

At the start of March, I sadly lost my guinea pig, Henry, after a short illness. The following week, I adopted Zebedee to keep my other guinea pig, Herbert, company. It wasn’t plain sailing, unfortunately!

My daughter turned 17 and started learning to drive. She’d already been out several times with my husband before her first lesson. My husband ran his 250th parkrun, which is a big milestone. My daughter and I went to see Ed Sheeran at The O2, one of only a handful of UK dates he played in 2023.

I started April by running Forest of Dean half marathon. It left me with an injury, but I was very pleased with how it went. My daughter and I went to the theatre twice in the month – Rocky Horror Show (my choice) and an Easter panto (her choice). My son didn’t come home properly for the Easter holidays, but we saw him every weekend, which was nice. My husband and I did a bit of parkrun tourism – running at two different parkruns.

At the end of the month, my eldest went on a solo holiday to Morocco. Also at the end of the month, we travelled to Manchester to see my son compete in long jump at BUCS – the university sport league. Unfortunately, it didn’t go very well for him and he didn’t make it to the final. With his new coaches, he’s changed a lot of his technique and it’s taking time to get back to his best.

May was the month of three bank holidays – with an extra bank holiday for the King’s Coronation. We watched the Coronation at my parents’ house, then went to a barbecue with my son’s girlfriend’s family the next day. On Coronation day, my husband injured his hand trying to open a jar of beetroot. He was told it would take a week to heal, but it was still hurting at the end of the month. He also had a virus, so it wasn’t a great month for him!

My daughter did her art AS exam in May, which she worked really hard for. She also finally got a part-time job, after applying for them constantly since the start of the year. My son had his end of first year exams for his medical degree. My husband, brother-in-law and I ran the Weston Super Half, which was brilliant. My daughter has started training for Cheltenham half marathon, so I did some running, walking and cycling to keep her company on some of her runs.

We went to see my son compete in an athletics competition at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham (where the Commonwealth Games were held). He still isn’t back to where he was last year, but he jumped his first ‘respectable’ distance of the year. My husband, eldest and I ran Severn Bridge parkrun and I got my first PB in six years! We had a new patio built, which is about 100 times nicer than our old one.

June was a good month for us. At the start of the month, we went to Wychwood Festival for the day with my family. It was the first of many hot days in June. My son competed in the Midland championship in long jump and picked up the senior bronze medal. He was the highest ranked under 23.

My husband turned 50 and we went away to a lovely Airbnb in Kingsbridge, Devon, to celebrate with all the kids, the boys’ girlfriends and Hetty. I’m pleased to say it was a very successful weekend!

We got Hetty spayed in June, which was a bit stressful, but she recovered pretty quickly. My daughter had her mocks for a week, followed by work experience for a week. I went to watch her compete in the finals of the national schools’ dance competition. She was very good, but her team didn’t place in the top three. At the end of the month, my husband, sister and I ran Gloucester 10k. It was very hot!

You can read about our July to December here.