With Christmas looming, this weekend saw us making the annual trip to Gloucestershire to deliver presents to my husband’s family… our family…! It is not a trip I look forward to much, not least because the drive is possibly the most boring one you could make in the UK. Seriously, you go from M25 accidents to M4 roadworks, to another really long road with nothing to look at that takes you right into the heart of Gloucestershire. I could barely contain my excitement when I saw that it was also minus 5 degrees there. Then of course at the end of this journey, I have to see the in-laws.
Anyway 2 hours after leaving our house at stupid o’clock on Saturday morning, we approached the gigantic and incredibly steep hill that even a brand new car struggles to get up. 15 minutes of vertical driving and white knuckles as I grip to the handle waiting for the car to roll backwards is enough to make anyone feel a little a little woozy and by that point I had completely lost any motivation I did have about seeing the family. We made it to the quaint 1820’s little village carved in the side of the hill to see Nan. The area and her house looked the same way it always did. The milk maid in the same place, the plant pots still the exact ones she has had since she moved in 70 years ago. Traditions have never altered. Everything is as it has always been. No renovations no modernisations. Just a little village from the 1800’s where no one seems to mind the style and no one tries to change it. So naturally I ask myself why and then advise her that she should get an iPod and have Sky installed, spruce the place up a bit!!
At 86, Nan is possibly the best part of my in-law family. She is the only Nan left in my family, but she seems to be ageing very quickly now. She lost her best friend last year and has been really lonely since. She won’t ask people for help and she won’t ask to be with anyone for Christmas. She says she doesn’t want to get in the way and is quite happy with her cup of coco and little black and white TV. I don’t consider myself to be totally materialistic at all, but I do like nice things and to have some of the modern accessories to a 21st century life. This is why I find Nan so amazing. She wants for nothing, she never has wanted for anything, she never complains, even when she is in immense pain and she will always make time for you. She is what I would aspire to be. A great woman with great strength that wants for nothing. I have some way to go!
So after Nan and the time warp we were trapped in we travelled 2 miles to the next stop to see Martin’s Dad. Not much to say here really as he barely talks and when he does I can’t understand him. An hour went by and I couldn’t tell you one thing we discussed. So moving on to mother and sister-in-law. I don’t mind either of these actually as the Mum I can just spend the entire time winding up. Which I did, she loves it really, she doesn’t see us much and we tend to make her laugh. She goes home happy anyway.
We stopped off to see the sister-in-law and the 3 kids. I love seeing them as the kids I only get to see once a year and they are growing up so fast. It’s so lovely that they look forward to us coming and can’t wait to tell us everything they did. Unfortunately as the eldest who is 9 was so excited to see us, she and her friend had prepared around 15 dances to Pink and the High School Musical (full songs) that I had to endure on arrival. One or two I can handle then my concentration goes, so I suggested we play hide and seek. The 4 kids in the house scattered… ahh quiet. So I continued counting then went and sat down. Gave me a good 15 minutes peace before they started to wonder what was going on and began to reveal their hiding spots. I told them they were too good for me and as I lost, I suggested they should go and hide again – they fall for anything!! My punishment for not playing properly was having to watch a rendition of ‘Little Donkey’ in the kitchen which was more torturous than the original dances I tried to cut short! That over with the youngest who is 2 wanted picky uppy and a cuddle so I was stuck with her to my hip for the rest of the evening. Every time I tried to put her down she would scream and grip me like a vice while the 5 year old would try to climb up my back. Where’s my husband whilst I am being mauled by over excited children? Of course, where else but on the sofa chatting to the newest boyfriend. He is a tank driver in the army don’t you know. Wow, a tank!!! That was it, husband occupied.
Having finally clambered out of the arms of screaming children, we managed to climb into the car for the journey home. I was knackered by this point and quite glad that our last free Sunday until the new year was going to be a quiet one. Which it has been and it is lovely. No children, no noisy Gloucestershire people (only because they speak a 1000 decibels higher than us), no cigarette smoke, a reasonably tidy house though it could seriously do with a clean, our cats and more importantly, just us. The way I like it.
