BREAK WAS A WINNER, DESPITE YAHTZEE LOSS

I’m trying to write this week’s column during a tense game of Yahtzee. S t a ke s are high. My fragile ego and wavering reputation are on the line. We ran away for a few days of “family time” and the cruel, scathing beings I spawned absolutely trounced me last night. And I mean wiped the floor with me – I scored less than half of the ultimate winner. This is an early-doors rematch with smallest kid feeling mighty this morning after her big win yesterday.

I’m not proud of my performance. It might have been due to fatigue, possibly more to do with fruity cider, but either way I set NO example of decent game play or how to be a gracious loser.

We drove north yesterday; a quick stop at House of Bruar saw us spending the entire week’s budget on lunch for five but at least the nice chap in the gents’ section recommended some wellies for the mister’s Hulk- like calf muscles. Biggest kid treated us to an ’80s/’90s playlist and we discovered my ability to remember song lyrics from my childhood exponentially exceeds my ability to remember why I walked into the kitchen. Not a word of Sweet Child O Mine has been lost to me. Proud moment right there.

Today brought with it excited puppies welcoming their new surroundings from 6am. NOT acceptable holiday behaviour, but fortunately this cracking spot has an enclosed garden so we launched them outside and attempted to go back to sleep. They declined to pipe down so the mister and I got up. Heavy rainfall outside signalling the start of our holiday kindly stopped and a glorious Scottish autumnal day has emerged. Naturally, older kids remain asleep and the dogs have decided to indulge in a nap during this rare brief spell of dry weather.

We are living the life in a house we could never afford, other than for four nights, and I’m currently indulging in one of my favourite hobbies, imagining myself in situations that will literally NEVER exist (lottery win anyone?). I had the audacity to hang out the French doors to wish a passing neighbour a cheery “Good morning!” and was glared at in return, possibly not a fan of spotty pyjamas?

In my holiday head, he and I are going to be the best of neighbours and our dogs will spend long forest walks chasing each other. I shall fuel this scenario by spending the afternoon pouring over Right Move looking at £500k houses with approximately £32 in my account. An Argos catalogue for adults right there.

Walking boots and waterproofs galore, this isn’t our first Scottish October holiday rodeo. Once Yahtzee has been won, we’ll head out to blow away some cobwebs and appreciate this time we have all together. We are painfully aware we are running short of holidays where biggest kid will want to come, meantime we’ll teach her to light fires and choose playlists. We’ll eat pizza and indulge in Nutella croissants for breakfast. Heck, lunch and tea if they want. Our children tolerate our hectic work lives back home, four nights will feel like a glorious month.

Happiness is a day on the couch after a long walk with the dogs. I’m a person who wants to do a lot trapped in the body of a person who wants to sleep a lot. A balance has to be maintained or my next chemo will be here with me more tired than when I stopped the last one.

Fortunately everyone in our family has a deep love of reading and we each own Kindles. Being an ex-librarian, (I KNOW RIGHT?!?!) I resisted it for a long time, but packing 24 books for a 10-day holiday became impractical and I now LOVE mine. We all enjoy card games, movie nights and uninterrupted chats, but sometimes a series of books takes over. Then we nod at each other in passing to give silent approval discussion is not necessary and disturbance unwelcome.

I have chosen some serious reading, the M&S Christmas food catalogue. Never to be taken lightly, we normally have a crowd at ours on Christmas Day so I’ll probably pore over this many times before decisions are made and orders placed.

After losing at Yahtzee, tea and a Christmas catalogue will do