First steps, a hiccup & last breaths

This week has definitely been a tough one - full of extreme events paired with emotional swings to go along with it.

The hiccup
The week started with my hubby being laid off. Home at 10 in the morning with his box of stuff and mixed up emotions. He was laid off not because the restaurant chain he was working for wasn't doing extremely well, not because he wasn't dedicated or hard-working or doing his job properly but simply because he didn't play the political game. They've used the excuse of mass lay-offs in other business sectors to be ruthless, heartless and essentially inhuman. What more did I expect of it? I don't know, it is a business after all.

After working 70 plus hours a week through November & December including Christmas Day, I feel like all that time has just been a waste. I'm just happy to have my hubby back again... (we'll see how this feeling lasts...)

Last breaths
My dear and much loved 'uncle michael' passed away this week of a massive stroke. With his mad-scientist look, beliefs in conspiracy theories paired with a PhD in physics, he'd only recently found another true calling - hypnotherapy. What I'll remember about him will be his laugh and how he could light up and clear out a room with his belly-grabbing guffaw, his first and last dance in about 20 years at my sister's wedding, and his attempt to hypnotise me which didn't quite work. He is much-loved and will be missed.

First steps
But in amongst all these frustrations and sadness comes my girls. Hazel with her wide two-tooth grin taking her first tentative steps, Georgia with her constant mass of tangles in her hair that she'll never let me get out, and Kate - loud and wild who this week decided to put on 20 pairs of panties all at the same time.