I should have known better. All through Christmas I kept on top of work and Midlifechic by curling up on the sofa with my laptop. During the first week my neck started to feel a bit sore, then my shoulder . In the second week it was moving into my back. I kept on ignoring it thinking it would be fine, I even thought it would be a good idea to keep going to the gym to hammer through the increasing pain. It turns out it wasn’t a good idea at all to swing 8kg kettlebells around because suddenly everything seized. I seem to have given myself a laptop induced RSI injury (a first world problem if ever there was one) and it’s actually really painful so I know you’ll understand when I say I mustn’t type for long today. It’s making me feel terribly middle aged as I move everywhere stiffly with a slight groan. Even so, it’s been a busy week of work and parents’ evenings. My main sartorial challenge has been how to dress for the office in this crazy stormy weather so here are some Winter work day outfits. Tuesday:

winter work day outfits

Forgive the strange pose – I was being told off for not smiling but I’m not very smiley because I’m not sleeping very well – I can’t get comfortable you see!

Just a quick shout for the tech gloves – they’re brilliant for weather like this, you can keep on using your phone without taking them off but they’re still lovely quality unlike the woolly ones you buy from petrol stations!

Yesterday I had to go for a meeting with a very conservative law client. Get ready for some provincial moaning here – in their wisdom, our local council had decided not to grit the roads the night before. This is despite them having gritted them nearly every evening during the balmy Autumn we’ve just enjoyed. We had a weather warning for hail and snow which stuck and turned the roads and pavements into ice rinks. I was bombarded with delighted texts from the middle son because it took him over 2 hours to make his usual 40 minute journey to school – he was perfectly happy to be sitting on the bus with his friends rather than doing double Physics. It also made me realise how reliant I am on heels for a dressed up look – I’m sure I’m not the only person with this conundrum at the moment. So thinking about my meeting, I decided to start with the only smart, flat boots I have with grip which are Clark’s Minster Echo. This meant I couldn’t wear trousers so I decided to stick with one of the Parisian style tips I gathered over Christmas and work black with navy. Now I can hear my mum in my ear – one of her cardinal rules was ‘black doesn’t go with navy’ but I’m not listening. This is what I wore:

winter work day outfits

My meeting was in the same town as the boys’ school and finished at 3.30pm so I suddenly realised I had a rare opportunity to meet them for an impromptu coffee and milkshake date. I sent them a quick text – the elder two of course were far too busy with their social lives to be able to fit me in but the youngest was over the moon. As he came galloping up the road to meet me with his schoolbag that is bigger than he is, I stood for a moment and fixed a memory of his beaming face. Soon he too will change and I will be relegated to a much more functional role in his life. I treasured every moment of our walk through town and of him not being remotely embarrassed to be seen with me as he chattered away about his day.

Some of you will remember how hard I found it when he left primary school in July and how much I knew I was going to miss the school run. We’ve all got used to the new routine and he’s settled in really well but it’s still such a big adjustment. In fact as I’ve been writing this he’s just texted to say that someone bumped into him and he’s dropped the apple crumble he’s just made in Food Tech. He sounds pretty upset bless him – he was really looking forward to having ‘pudding’ tonight which is something we never do during the week so, guess what we’ll be doing when he gets home (after spending last night prepping all the ingredients and writing out the method)!

Today I was due a day at my desk but because I’m trying not to type we decided a new year work brainstorm was in order and so we went down to a café on the coast. That’s not another new hairstyle by the way – it was very cold and felt as though the wind was blowing right through one ear and out of the other which is probably just what we needed before a brainstorm.

IMG_8957

So that brings us (almost) to the weekend. We have some horrendously early rugby starts so I’m actually hoping that the weather gets worse and they’re called off, although knowing our luck they’ll tell us that when we get to school at 7am! Thinking about it though I have a freezer full of snow – the middle son decided to freeze a row of snowballs that he made the other night in case it doesn’t snow again (which gave me a bit of a surprise when I opened the door to look for some peas last night). Maybe I could use them to convince school we’re snowed in and can’t get to the coach! Keep in touch.