Wow… how can it possibly be September already? This year really is flying by, isn’t it?
August was a busy one for us here in the SoftThistle household with the summer holidays coming to an end and the boys going back to school, me signing up for self-employment and ending with us getting a new kitten!
Zack is loving high school and has been really enjoying computing, maths and music, along with joining the rock climbing and dodgeball school clubs. He’s come home every day with a smile on his face, hanging out with new friends and old, spending time up at the local youth club on the nights that include first years… I really couldn’t be prouder! He’s even been making a point of doing his homework as soon as he gets it so it’s done while still fresh in his head! Something I have talked about but didn’t have to remind him to do… my jaw dropped the first time he did it!
Max is handling being in primary five extremely well, spending more and more time in his mainstream classroom with support in comparison to previous years when he needed to spend much more time in the school’s ASD base. He’s coming out of school happy (except for that one day!) and is no longer having to let it all out in an angry/upset manner when he gets home like he used to. And to top it all off he’s started having some school dinners instead of his bog-standard packed lunches every day which have been exactly the same for the last 4 years… what a relief!
We went to the Crieff Highland Games this year for the first time… that would be where I MET EWAN MCGREGOR!!! I almost *died*!!! He grew up in Crieff and his parents still live here… his dad was the Chieftain of the 2017 games so he was there to support him. What a lovely son!
So… we’ve lived here for eight years now and this was the 7th highland games we’d been around for, but until this year Max just wasn’t ready to handle the people and the noise… this year though, this year he SMASHED it! He had seen the rides being built up during the week on our way to and from school and was desperate to go see them after we’d been to the fair twice previously in the last year. It was £20 for the boys and I to get in, but honestly it was worth it to see my boys having so much fun… and totally worth it for getting a selfie with Ewan of course. *grins*
We bumped into lots of friends, with Zack heading off with some pals to go on the rides and such while Max and I had a look around. So many local businesses come with their stalls… I just wish I’d had the money to buy some of the jewellery!
I think the best bit for Max and I was when we went to the Glenturret tent which was a wee music festival off to the side of the park! A band called the Rolling Drones were playing – bagpipes, guitars, base, drums… making songs like Footloose their own. Max was dancing away having a blast and only asked for his ear defenders towards the end!
I’ve officially gone self-employed and oh wow, it’s not easy to do when on benefits… the amount of form-filling and phone calls that need to be made isn’t for the faint of heart! Luckily being in Laura Husson’s Clubhouse has been extremely motivating so I felt I had enough cheering and support from other like-minded women to be able to do it! That means you’ll start seeing some sponsored posts here and there, and I’m working on how I’m going to start offering card readings through the blog too! I’ve got so many ideas I just don’t quite have the time to implement them!
Of course when the kids go back to school, the first couple of weeks tend to be filled with catching up with friends (including a mini road-trip up the road visiting the Mirror Man in the pictures above!) and the kids having friends over, along with getting used to Zack’s burgeoning social life, so I’ve barely had a minute till the last few days!
Then there was the Big Surprise that I’d been keeping from Zack for the last month… our new arrival Deenah! I had been surreptitiously showing Max photos of her and getting him used to the idea that we’d have a “baby cat” to take care of soon, explaining how he could help by using his “little voice” and being very gentle with her. Zack had *no* idea!
Technically she came home on the 1st of September, but I’m including it because… HELLO… KITTEN! On top of that my absolute best friend in the world JenJen (Max’s name for her stuck!) surprised us all with a visit! I was SO beyond happy to see her, and got to introduce her not just to Deenah, but one of my besties up here too! Of course they adored each other!
So… the surprise… I told Zack about a week ago that on Friday the 1st of September there would be a surprise for him and Max when he got home from school. Well! He wasn’t impressed at having to wonder and wonder for a whole week, bless him! Not once did he guess right! HA!
On top of little Deenah, we had the extra surprise of JenJen visiting (which was the *first* thing he asked about when I told him about The Surprise, bless his heart! He and Max absolutely adore their JenJen and Uncle Shaun), so when he got home, he saw his JenJen first and was OVER THE MOON! Huge hugs all around while I recorded it… then I told him JenJen wasn’t the surprise I’d told him about, and lifted Deenah up from her hiding place! He was completely dumbfounded!
Needless to say we’ve had an amazing August! I wonder what September will have in store for us…
Thank you for taking the time to read this, lovely! If you could leave a wee comment I’d be SO happy! Seriously… comments are blogger-crack! How has your August been? How jealous are you of the pic with Ewan (obvs we’re besties now! *cough*)?
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