I’m off for some sun… if I can bear to tear myself away from my baby | Cheryl Gibbs

Yep, I’m off abroad and I’m anxious and excited all at the same time.

I’ve organised a little three-night getaway to celebrate my sister Michelle’s turning of age – she’s 40 on October 13 so we decided to book a few girlie nights away to help her come to terms with it (she’s clearly having a crisis – because she went and had her nose pieced this week).

I honestly can’t wait but I wish Harley and Matt were coming.

Obviously they can’t as it’s a girlie weekend, but it’s the longest I will have left Harley… ever.

She’s only ever been separated from me for one night since she was born.

At nearly 20 months she’s so much more aware now that I have these awful anxieties that she’s going to miss me terribly and won’t understand why I’m not around or be able to articulate what she’s feeling.

I’ve never worried about something so much in my life and while everyone keeps telling me to ‘pull myself together’ it’s just not that easy.

But next weekend isn’t about me, it’s about Michelle and whether I’m being anxious inside or not I will put on my big girl pants and sport a brave face… the cocktails will help with this, of course.

We did look at going to Brighton for the celebrations.

However, by the time I had worked out the cost of staying there for three nights, together with the general costs of entertaining ourselves across three days and three nights, it was working out to be so expensive that a little trip across the water was a lot cheaper – by a mile.

And of course the allure of some sun helped sway the decision.

However, I have to be honest and admit that the faff of trying to work out what we need to ensure we can prove we’re doubly vaccinated plus organizing all the minibus pick-ups to the airport has been a bit of a headache.

But I cannot wait… I just hope I do actually get on that plane and don’t make the taxi do a U-turn on the way to the airport and come home again because I have mum guilt!

My glorious return to the gym nearly finished me off

I went back to the gym this week for the first time in about two-and-a-half years and it nearly killed me.

I kept working out while pregnant with Harley but our IVF clinic advised I stop doing strenuous workouts so I went swimming and for walks instead. Then lockdown happened and I’ve not returned to working out properly – until now.

Good grief am I unfit. All my muscles felt weak and limp and I couldn’t lift anywhere near the kind of weights I used to but it felt so good to be doing something for me that wasn’t about being a mum or working and building my business.

I’m the sweaty mess in the corner who hopes no one has spotted her, but I’m loving every second.

If 2020 was one of toughest years ever, 2021 has to be up there

The fuel crisis has been a nightmare this week. What an absolute shambles.

While everyone moans about panic-buyers that just ‘fuels’ more panic-buying. People genuinely need to get from A to B and while we don’t want to rush to filling stations the fact there are long queues makes you think you should.

We were lucky and managed to get some before it went crazy. But Matt drives for a living so has to go every couple of days and queue for hours. It’s yet more hassle in our lives and I feel so sorry for the workers at the stations who are having to manage it all. They say 2020 will go down as one of the hardest years in modern history, but I’d say 2021 is up there too.

A message from the editor, Mark Waldron.

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