weekends and rain

The impromptu weekends are always the best! Mum turned up on Thursday night and was looking great with new hairdo to boot. I gained extra brownie points for commenting on it,brownie points which were stolen from my 2 younger brothers and stepdad,none of whom apparently noticed Mum's new barnet. Why is it that guys never learn to notice these little things that make a woman feel good? Your life would be so much rosier guys believe me!
Anway, tired and weary parents and tired and weary me(who'd spent the day running round trying to make the place look like I'd been a past student from the excellent housewife academy)retired to bed about 1am after much chinwagging and tea.
Next morning at the ungodly hour of 6.30 mini me stuck her head round my door to say good morning completely unaware that her Granny and Papa were asleep in the next room. I asked her if she would go and check on the cat as I thought I'd heard her in the spare bedroom. She opened the door and the delight on her face was picture perfect. She flung her arms around her Grandparents (who she hasn't seen for months)and proceeded to offer everyone a cup of tea in bed (I have her well trained now)
After tea and breakfast sadly mini me had to go to school, so after much hugging and promises of visits in the summer hols,off we went.
Now Mum and Stepdad were off to my Uncle's birthday party some 90miles away and were just stopping off at me on the way, but when I got back from the school run,Mum suggested that me and mini me come and join them on the saturday for the party! It hasn't stopped raining for 2weeks and everyone's a bit down in the mouth about it,and BF was away at the weekend so I thought it'd be a great idea to cheer us up and meet up with some family I haven't seen in way too long. Mini me would just be delighted that she was getting to stay up past 8o'clock.
So off we went on the saturday,air bed and duvet packed in the back,2 packets of crisps for the journey and mini me navigating (she is an expert at reading AA routefinder pages) and we turned up at our destination 2hours later ready to party. And party we did!!
The was a spanish theme to the evening so there was plenty of good food and Sangria, a proper Flamenco dancer, who danced for 2 hours and got us all learning the steps (after a few jugs of Sangria this was quite an achievement believe me)Mini me informed me that the dancer would have sponges inside her shoes, as I'd commented there was no way a normal person would have been able to sustain that amount of foot stamping for that length of time. Mini me and me had joined in with the theme as much as we could what with the very short notice,so both had our hair tied back with roses in it, she had a lovely long skirt with frills round it and looked a picture. After a few drinks I didn't look such a picture but hey I was having fun.
When we left at around midnight,I was slightly tipsy and mini me was tired but happy. It was still pouring with rain but this time it wasn't dampening our spirits. We'd had a great weekend,we danced,we spent time with family (some of whom mini me had never met) and I was glad I'd decided to be a bit impulsive.

Surprises

'I'm so excited and I just can't hide it'.
Cheesy, but i don't care a jot. I'm jumping round the house today like Tigger on acid!
Why?
Because I called my Mum yesterday - as I do most days - and dropped the comment in that I'd see her very soon,as me and BF are off up to the Burgh at the end of July. She paused and said 'well it may be a bit sooner than that'.
Brill I thought, a wee visit from my Mum,who I miss like crazy.So I asked her when I'd be seeing her, 'How does tomorrow sound?' she said.
Fan-bloody-tastic!!!
I have no idea how she managed to keep it quiet but I love surprises like that.When you're so far away from your nearest and dearest (especially during times of emotional trauma or stress)the thought of just being able to be near them is enough to make me jump in the car and drive the 350 miles for a hug from my Mum.
I have the unbelievably bad weather we're having here at the moment to thank as well. You see my Stepdad is a bonafide farmer, and this time of year is normally written off for any type of break because it's normally when it's warm and dry enough to bale the hay. Not this year though,the torrential downpours have put paid to the hay being dry enough for at least a few weeks.Every cloud has a silver lining (although I do hope it stops raining soon,the country is in complete chaos)
It's just an overnight visit as her and my lovely stepdad are off to my Uncle's 60th further south,but I don't care,it's a fix of family that'll keep me going for the next few weeks till I see them all again. I'm off out to buy some more grub for tomorrow's breakfast and am so looking forward to seeing mini-me's face when she sees her Granny and Papa walking down the drive because her Mummy likes giving her surprises too.