I could get used to this ....

IT was just a matter of time but it's happened. Inevitably. I have become idle.

We chose to quit our jobs just before Christmas and take January off. So having worked full time for the majority of our 40 years, we have just two deadlines a day that revolve around school collection and drop offs.

This morning, with a husband on the golf course, I had two boys - old enough now to get themselves ready in the mornings - to get to school before the bell sounded. From the comfort of my king size, I supervised teeth cleaning and uniform donning until they were ready to go.
My youngest was horrified as he climbed into the back of the car to see I was still in my PJs. Well, it wasn't worth getting dressed if my intention to get back into bed after the school visit was fulfilled.

And fulfilled it was. On went BBC1 and all tuned in for another sobbing session watching Wanted: Down Under.
When I worked Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, I was constantly asked if I'd been watching the series that takes families on a weeklong trip to Australia or New Zealand to give them a taste of what a new life would be like.
This was never possible for me pre-Christmas as I was sitting at a desk compiling another set of Evening Leader pages when the show was being aired. But I would be filled in by many a colleague or friend on how Annabelle and Mark from Northamptonshire or Leah and Raymond from Shropshire were taken on a whistlestop tour of the Antipodes to see if it was their cup of fine English tea.

Personally, I had no inclination to watch the programmes. It was exactly what we, as a family, were going through ourselves. I had it first hand anyway. But now, at home with no deadlines to meet, I am drawn daily to the programme that never fails to make me weep.
I cry at lots of things - watching my youngest play fooball, watching my eldest sing in his school's harvest festival, watching X Factor, Extreme Makeover and even Noel's House Party - but coming face to face with fellow families putting them in this familiar situation that we find ourselves in simply sets me off.

I'm dreading the day we leave and have visions to try and mentally prepare myself on how things will pan out. The social calendar for the next three weeks is manic, then, after that, well ... that's it. We'll be all alone with just eachother for company.