Quetzalcoatl

I just had my haircut at 7:30pm on a Monday evening in the salon opposite me. That's the first time I've been out in the evening for 6 months. 6 months. It's flown by and it doesn't feel that long. I even missed her a bit. Silly me. Anyway, it was amazing. Thank you, Dan. Thank you, Oscar, for cuddling Olive back to sleep when she woke up. I'm feeling like a new lady. This post, I'm harking back to the old days of being pregnant. It's been a while coming and my friend, Antonia, asked me to write something about this when we discussed it as she was pregnant at the same time and we spoke about how people felt like they had to right to discuss all your birth details with you even if they're a stranger. It's lovely chatting away to people (I'd chat to anyone) but I've never had anything like it when I was pregnant. Random people would say all sorts of things to me. It was such a bizarre thing. Last summer, when I was pregnant (that was a subo

The last time I wrote a review on here, it was sunny and I was sitting in the garden with a bowling ball bump in the way. Currently, Oscar has taken Olive to see her Nana and I'm resting, writing, and waiting for the bath to run. An hour of luxury. This book, The Testaments (sequel to The Handmaid's Tale ), has genuinely been the most excited I've been about a book since the third Harry Potter . I taught The Handmaid's Tale to my sixth form class last year and I loved it. All the symbolism; all the historical context. I wish my class the best of luck as they sit their exams this summer...the 7 of you know who you are...university is just around the corner and I know you'll be amazing. Whilst we were studying it, I took them to a convent round the corner to see how religious groups exist in today's world. We met a 80 year old nun, someone who I would associate with Aunt Lydia (cunning, persuasive, yet charming and, now, after this second read: an unexpecting o

This post has been a long time coming. To be completely honest, I lost my briefcase (with my laptop in it) and we found it up in the loft when bundling more outgrown baby clothes up there. This is what I wrote on Instagram when we welcomed Olive a month after being in a bubble with her: "I’ve been quiet for a while because I’ve been in a magical baby bubble with my new little family. We have been falling in love a little more each day with our baby girl, Olive Grace Jean Smith. It’s overwhelmingly incredible to be able to go on this journey and we feel lucky to be parents to such a beautiful girl. Thank you for coming into the world, little Olive: we already love your big feet, your big dark eyes, your button nose, your little squeals just before you drop into a deep sleep, your happy milk face, your second poo just as Daddy puts a clean nappy on, your tiny finger nails, your softness after a bath, your slightly furry shoulders, and your long legs. A girl!" I