Joyeux anniversaire à moi !

I woke up this morning to find this wonderful array of things on the table. Thom, bless him, had got up early, tidied ours and washed up, made pancakes from scratch for breakfast in bed, put up birthday banners and balloons, gone and got some flowers, collected some handmade birthday cards from some of the children, and just made everything just perfect for me to wake up to.

Opening cards over breakfast was a bit tearful at times I will be completely honest. Don’t worry, not full on sobbing, just a few tears. It was the first time ever in my life that I have not been with my family on my birthday, as it is also my Grandma Sylvia’s birthday on the same day so it has always seemed pointless not to spend the day with the family. Reading my birthday cards from family was both a happy and sad moment. All I can say is how thankful I was for Thom being there and making so much effort to make it wonderful, even without my family there. After opening my presents from Thom (which were so thoughtful and lovely!), I didn’t really have the time to examine them all properly as we had two new visitors at ours…the little girls from the family with whom we had eaten with the other evening, saying that they were just about to leave, and wanted to say goodbye. So off we went, to find their parents still packing! We said we would look after them for a little bit before they went, so the two girls joined us for a pancake which was adorable. It turns out the youngest had said the evening before that she was said that she would not have another crepe in France…so her wishes came true by accident! We also ended up sharing my birthday cake (and being given lots of wine!) with one of our remaining families, and didn’t get home until past midnight…party on!

Saying goodbye to our final set of families really did make me realise just how much they do mean to you. A good or bad family can really make or break your week. Having that instant connection with people, and having their children immediately adore you is something that I don’t think you get in many jobs. Saying that, even though the enjoyment of the job is there, I think we are given too little time to see customers and actually do the parts of our job that I feel are the most important.

Anyway, back to my birthday! So yes, we did do some demontages, but thankfully the majority of our day was spent at the pool! A lovely day, and I am so thankful for Thom making the effort to make my birthday special…I am a very lucky lady indeed.